


Finding Love In Legacy Oaks

by Sheerfreesia007



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:35:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 54,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27578587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sheerfreesia007/pseuds/Sheerfreesia007
Summary: Jack "Whiskey" Daniels had to uproot himself and his 10 year old daughter Esme after the death of his wife got to be too much for him to handle all on his own. After moving into a large gated community can Jack and Esme find and navigate a new happiness together?
Relationships: Jack | Whiskey (Kingsman)/Reader
Comments: 7
Kudos: 24





	1. Finding Love In Legacy Oaks pt. 1

**Author's Note:**

> A new Whiskey series! This one if gonna be another long one folks! I kinda got carried away with it while writing out the outline. So strap in we're gonna go for a ride! Also this is sorta AU because Whiskey is a single Dad, I'm so soft for Dad!Whiskey. This series was inspired by quite a lot of things, a reddit post in the F*ckHOA board, an overseas friend who the main reader character was loosely based around, and the relationship my husband and son have. There's going to be quite a few characters in this series and we will get to know most of them and their stores eventually. Feedback is always appreciated!!

Trees line the street as he slowly drives down it looking for the street signs to see if he has been following the directions correctly or not. He slowly comes up to a stop sign and sighs softly as he reads the street names not finding the one he’s looking for. 

“Daddy, are we lost?” comes a soft sweet voice from the back seat. His eyes flicker to the rearview mirror where he sees the familiar head of thick dark brown wavy hair and the curious all too knowing green eyes of his daughter.

“No we’re not lost Es. Why would you think that?” he answers and asks as he pulls through the intersection checking for any oncoming traffic. The radio in the car turned down low so that he can concentrate on reading the street names as he passes them.

“You’re making that weird noise you make when you’re trying not to get mad but you’re still getting mad.” his daughter replied as she turned her head to look out the car window. He scoffs softly and shakes his head but then stops as he realizes that she’s correct. 

“How do you know so much?” he wonders out loud as his eyes dart back to the rearview mirror. Just then at the next intersection he spots a large brick sign that reads _Legacy Oaks - Gated Community_. “Here it is!” he calls happily and quickly turns into the entrance for the community. He drives forward to the covered guard house where there’s a waiting middle aged man with a bright happy smile on his face. 

Jack pulls up to the man who’s standing in the doorway to the guard house. He parks the car and rolls down his window so that he can speak to the man to ask about directions in the community.

“Hi there, are ya lost?” asks the man kindly.

“Actually we’re moving in today. My name’s Jack Daniels and I wanted to ask about directions in the community.” Jack says easily as he leans out of the window towards the man.

“Oh that’s great! You’re gonna love it here, it’s a great little community.” the man says conversationally and Jack nods his head at him.

“A little hard to find though if I might say.” Jack says politely and the man grins widely at him as if he knows a secret.

“Well that’s because you came in through the back. The front entrance is much easier to see off the main road if you come from the interstate.” the man advises easily and Jack nods his head seeing where he got mixed up with the directions. “Alright so what’s your new address? I’ll be able to give you directions.”

“Oh we’re going to be at 1745 Peony Court.” Jack relayed easily.

“Oh! You’re gonna be living on the same street as Bunny.” he said happily. Jack furrowed his eyebrows at the man and the man chuckled softly as he waved his hand. “You’ll meet Bunny no doubt, she’s a great gal. Anyway, you’re going to straight down this road it’s called First Avenue, it’s the main road that runs through the whole community from the front entrance to the back entrance. Your street is going to be on the right hand side and it’ll be four up from here, it’s going to be called Gardenscape Boulevard. Peony Court will branch off from Gardenscape Boulevard.” the guard explained easily.

“Thanks that’s really helpful- uh what was your name again? I’m sorry.” Jack says a little embarrassed that he didn’t get the guard’s name.

“Nah, it’s alright name’s Jeremy Brock.” the guard said easily and waved his hand as he stepped back into the guard house. “I’ll see ya around the neighborhood. I live in a different part of the community not far from your street.” he said kindly with a wave. Jack returned his wave and slowly began to drive forward after the mechanical arm lifted and he was admitted into the community.

Following Jeremy’s directions Jack easily found himself driving into their new neighborhood. As he turned right onto Gardenscape Boulevard he smiled as he saw all the nice looking houses that lined each side of the street. He had to admit it was a nice looking neighborhood and he was glad he had found something so quickly after being promoted and transferred to this new office branch of his company.

“This is it baby girl our new neighborhood.” Jack says warmly as he turns onto Peony Court and slows until he finds 1745 and pulls into the driveway. He can see a few neighbors already out in their own yards and some were even gathered in yards talking with each other. Parking the car he looks up to the rearview mirror and sees Esme looking around apprehensively. “You ready for this baby girl?” he asks softly and she looks up to the rearview mirror and locks eyes with him. He can see the uncertainty in her eyes and he feels the guilt at having to move her almost halfway across the states and upending her life but it was something he felt needed to be done. Besides the pay raise that came with the promotion, it was something that he felt needed to happen because they needed a fresh start after Maria’s death.

“I don’t know Daddy. Are you sure we had to move?” Esme asks as her eyes dart around at the neighbors who were surreptitiously watching them now.

“Yeah Es, we had to. I promise this is going to be good you’re going to make new friends and your new school is gonna be great. We just need to get used to it that’s all. C’mon baby girl, we got this.” he explains as he turns to face her over the seat. He holds out his closed fist to her and she fist bumps him with a giggle making him smile widely at her. “That’s my girl.” he says proudly. He takes the keys out of the ignition and opens his door before opening up the back passenger door for Esme since she had already unbuckled her harness in the booster seat and was waiting at the door. 

Jack helps her out of the car by holding out a hand for her and she sets her much smaller hand in his and hops out of the car. She giggles when her feet land firmly on the driveway and he smiles down at her. 

“Hey there neighbor!” comes a friendly sounding voice and Jack and Esme look up to see a man around Jack’s age walking across his yard to stand at the fence next to their new driveway. “Welcome to the neighborhood. I’m Henry Mills your new next door neighbor.” he says kindly as he holds his hand out for Jack to shake. Jack easily shakes his hand smiling politely at him. He watches as Henry turns to Esme and holds his hand out to her too.

“Jack Daniels and this here is Esme Daniels.” Jack introduces himself and Esme to Henry.

“Well it’s a pleasure to meet ya Jack and you too little Miss Esme.” he says kindly as he shakes Esme’s hand. Jack can see in Esme’s face that she appreciates shaking hands with their new neighbor, he figures it makes her feel like a grown up by meeting him like this. “Do you guys need any help with getting your boxes into the house before it gets dark?” Henry asks helpfully and Jack shakes his head in response.

“Only packed the most essentials in the truck the rest will be coming with the moving truck tomorrow.” Jack explains as Henry nods along. “I appreciate it though.” 

“Oh yeah no sweat! Figured I’d offer in case you needed any help.” Henry said kindly. “By the way don’t let the other neighbors creep you out by them checking you out. It’s been awhile since we’ve had a new neighbor that they probably don’t know what to do with themselves.” Henry explains as he chuckles. “They’re good people they just get a little nosy, that’s all.” he says with a shrug.

“Oh no that’s alright. I understand it, it’ll take a little adjusting for everyone I think.” Jack says knowingly and Henry nods his head agreeing with Jack. “Uh well we’re both a little tired from driving for the past few days. I really appreciate the welcome but I wanna get this little one settled in her room for the night before it does get too dark.” Jack explains as he sets a hand softly on Esme’s shoulder.

“Oh yeah of course! Sorry for keeping you from it. If you guys get hungry there’s a mom and pop pizza place not far from here I can get you the menu I’ve got in a minute while you bring boxes in.” Henry says helpfully and Jack nods his head.

“Yeah that’d be great actually. It’ll be nice not to have to worry about cooking tonight.” Jack says easily. He hears a twinkling sound not from where he’s standing and turns to see a woman walking down the block with a leashed tan and white corgi in front of her. He watches as the woman smiles brightly at two elderly woman who are standing on the sidewalk in front of their homes catching up. She continues walking past them after greeting them and asking a quick question. Her happy laughter fills the air and Jack can’t keep his eyes off her as the pleasant sound fills his ears.

“Daddy! Look that lady has a cute puppy!” Esme gasps softly as she stands next to him and he smiles down at her. 

“Yes she does. Maybe later this week we’ll meet her and we can ask to pet her dog.” Jack says softly.

“Oh that’s Bunny. She’ll talk your ear off about her dog if you let her.” Henry says around a laugh.

“Really?” Esme gasps softly with excited eyes. Jack looks over at Henry at his words before turning back to the woman walking away. _So that was Bunny._

“Yeah the guard Jeremy mentioned someone by that name.” Jack says as he tries to get one last look at the woman. He watches as she turns her head over towards his direction and when their eyes lock she grins and lifts a hand to wave at him. He smiles back and lifts his hand to wave as well in greeting. She then disappears into a house not far from his own.

“Of course he did. Bunny’s well known in the whole community. She takes pride in the community. You’ll see when you meet her at the monthly meeting.” Henry said. “Well anyway let go get you that menu so you can order dinner for the two of you.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks again I really appreciate it.” Jack says easily as he begins to lead Esme to the back of the truck so that he can begin pulling the suitcases and packed boxes. “Alright Es let’s get some of this stuff brought in before it gets dark, okay?” Jack says warmly to Es as he opens the trunk and pulls out her tiny luggage with the sparkly princess on it for her. He pulls out his own two large suitcases and begins to lead the way to the front door of the house. 

Opening the door Jack holds it open for Es and watches as she walks in looking around. “Now I know it doesn’t look like much yet but that’s just because we don’t have the furniture yet or the rest of our stuff. That’s all coming tomorrow.” Jack explains to her and she nods her head at him.

“Okay Daddy. Will I be able to have a pirate princess bedroom?” she asks softly as he turns on the lights and they both walk through the front of the house towards the bedrooms in the back. Leading her towards the bedroom he had picked out for her he grins happily at her question.

“We can do anything you want to your bedroom. It’s your bedroom kiddo.” he says easily nodding his head. Opening the door for her bedroom the two of them walk in and look around after he turns on the light. “Alright so do me a favor and start hanging up your clothes while I go out and get the air mattresses ok?” he instructs her and she nods dragging her luggage over to her closet.

“Ok Daddy.” she says softly and opens up her luggage eagerly.

It’s at least an hour or two later and night time had settled over the neighborhood. Jack had managed to get both his air mattress and Es’ air mattress set up, had brought in the packed boxes from the trunk and had hung up his clothes and checked Esme’s progress on her closet.

Now the two of them were sitting in the living room on the floor with a pizza box opened to the side of them and his laptop opened in front of the two of them. The Pirates of the Carribean movie was just finishing up and the credits were beginning to roll when Jack looked down as saw Esme curled up against his side with her head resting on his chest as she slept peacefully next to him.

Smiling widely and warmly at her he pressed a kiss to her forehead before shifting her onto his lap and cradling her in his arms. He idly wondered how much longer he would get with her cuddling into him. Shaking his head softly he stood easily from the floor and carried her to her bedroom. He laid her on her air mattress and dressed her in her pajamas, which was a pain in the ass because his little girl was just like him when she slept and just splayed out all her limbs when she became dead to the world in slumber.

He covered her with her deep ocean themed duvet and walked back to her bedroom door. When he reached it he looked back and saw that she had turned in her sleep and was now completely laid out on the mattress. He snickered softly at the sight and then closed the door so that it was left slightly ajar. Tiredly walking back to the living room he silently shut down the laptop and stowed it away in his briefcase before cleaning up the rest of dinner and placing the pizza in the fridge and the box went into the trash.

Walking to his own bedroom Jack could feel the exhaustion finally taking over his body. He tiredly dressed in his pajamas and slumped face first onto the mattress and easily passed out. For once in a very long time he didn’t dream at all.


	2. Finding Love In Legacy Oaks pt. 1.5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Fluff
> 
> So in this series I’m going to have a few ½ chapters kinda thing going. These are strictly used to show more in depth characterization of my lovely band of characters that I’m creating in this series. Most of them are going to revolve around Es, Whiskey and the reader but there will be some others that I have planned about other neighbors like Henry and Jeremy the Guard. Not each chapter will get a half chapter but there will be a few. I loved writing this one, I find child parent relationships so fascinating and adorably funny. Especially when the parent does silly things with the child. Feedback is always appreciated!

The next morning Jack wakes up early due to his alarm going off next to the air mattress. Rolling over he swiped the phone from the floor and silenced his alarm not wanting to wake Es up yet, she was like a little troll when she didn’t get enough sleep. He sat up on the mattress and yawned widely as he stretched his arms out to either side of his body. Sunlight poured in through the two windows at the back of his bedroom and he made a mental note to go shopping for curtains as soon as he was able to.

Standing from the mattress he placed his hands on his lower back and then stretched backwards letting his back muscles pull just slightly before he stood tall once again. Walking to his closet he effortlessly pulled out a pair of worn blue denim jeans and a maroon button up shirt. He quickly dressed and walked into the kitchen and began making breakfast for him and Es.

As he was flipping the last blueberry pancake he heard the soft patter of footsteps coming down the hall. He turned around with a flourish and presented a stacked high plate of pancakes to her and she burst into happy delighted giggles. She was leaning against the door jam still in her pajamas rubbing her eyes of the sleep that was still in them.

“Daddy.” She chastised him softly and Jack felt his heart grow in his chest. “You’re too silly in the mornings.” 

“Well good morning to you too, sleeping beauty.” He teased her and she stuck her tongue out at him silently making him gasp loudly. “Now is that any way to treat the man who slaved over a hot stove to provide you with sustenance?” He asked in mock hurt and she giggled again. 

“What’s sustenance?” She asked curiously still leaning up against the door jam. 

“Food. Fuel for the body.” Jack defined easily as he moved around the kitchen and pulled out two sets of plastic silverware and scooped up his own plate before walking towards the back door. “C’mon you little troll let’s go eat on the back porch.” He called over his shoulder as he continued towards the door. 

Her quick footsteps beat him to the door and she hurriedly opened it and held it open for him. He nodded his head at her as he passed her. “Why thank you little miss.” He said kindly to her and she grinned up at him before following him out onto the back porch.

Taking a seat on the steps that led down into the backyard he set one plate on his bent knees while he waited for Es to have a seat next to him. When she finally did he set her plate on her bent knees. 

The two of them tucked into their pancakes hungrily and a comfortable pleasant silence fell over the two of them. Jack looked around the backyard silently as he chewed his food. The backyard needed some work to make it presentable but he had time to get to it. As he surveyed he started thinking up plans on what he would like to do with it. 

“Daddy?” Esme asked him softly as she finished up the last of her pancakes and moved her plate behind her.

“Yeah Es?” He questioned softly as he too finished his breakfast and set his plate aside.

“Did we have to move because of what happened to Mommy?” She asked quietly and Jack turned to look down at her with a soft sadness in his eyes.

“We moved because of a lot of different things. But yes what happened to Mommy was part of it.” He said truthfully. Jack had never lied to Esme, it was a rule that he had developed when she was born. He never wanted to have that barrier between them where they couldn’t be honest with each other.

“Is it because it was too sad?” She asked as she wrapped her arms around her little legs and rested her chin on her knees. Jack sucked in a breath as he was reminded once again of how perceptive his little girl was. Wrapping his arms around her he pulled her into his lap and hugged her closer burying his face in her neck and taking a deep breath.

“Yes. It was too sad sometimes, and I don’t think Mommy would want us to be sad like anymore. So that’s part of why we moved.” He answered honestly as he nuzzled against her neck and tightened his arms around her.

“I got sad too Daddy. I miss Mommy.” Es responded softly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him close. 

“Me too baby. Me too.” He whispered softly and just sat there cradling her to him.

—

The moving truck and movers had already come and gone at least an hour ago and time was easily creeping into the afternoon hours. Jack huffed as he lifted yet another box labeled ‘Es’ Room’ and began walking it down the hallway towards the soft music playing from the bedroom.

Stepping into the doorway he smiled as he saw Esme setting out her stuffed animal collection in one corner of her room. The room was slowly coming together to how she wanted it and Jack could see her personality shining through it. He sighed loudly as he set the box on her bed and hunched over the box dramatically.

“Phew! That’s the last one thankfully! I think I broke my back carrying all of your boxes.” He teased her happily. He watched amused as she whirled around from the corner and crossed her arms over her chest and pouted at him.

“Oh whatever Daddy! It just means you’re old.” She quipped and Jack gasped loudly before placing a hand over his heart and fell to her bed in a dramatic fashion making her giggle loudly at his antics.

“Old?! Old she calls me! Mr. Ollie Octopus do you believe she called me old???” Jack lamented as he swiped up Esme’s all time favorite stuffed animal that she still slept with. It was a medium sized colorful octopus that had definitely seen better days. One of the eyes was dangling by a thread and Jack knew he would have to look up to see how to sew it back on.

“Dad!” Esme called out in exasperation and moved to swipe Ollie out of his arms but he rolled away from her making her huff and swiftly climb up onto the bed to wrestle the octopus out of his hands. “Give Ollie back! He thinks you’re old too!” She cried as the two of them wrestled on the bed with the octopus between them. 

“Nooo! My only ally has become my enemy!” Jack cried loudly and he let her take the octopus from him.

“You’re so weird Daddy.” She says around a giggle and puts Ollie back on top of her pillows at the head of her bed.

“So I’m beat from all this unpacking. What do you say we go grocery shopping huh?” He asks her, turning his head to watch her. She brushes a section of hair behind her ear and grins over at him nodding her head eagerly. “Alright get your shoes on and we’ll go find the grocery store.” He says slapping his hand against her bed before raising up to move off the bed.

“Yay!” She calls out and Jack chuckles softly as he walks out of her bedroom.

—

“Oh, oh! Can we get cookies?” Esme asks excitedly as she bounces on her toes next to him as he pushes the cart through the grocery store.

“Only one package though.” Jack compromises and lifts a hand to adjust his Stetson on his head so he can easily see what’s going on around them.

Henry had given him directions to the area of town that held most of the stores and luckily he had found it easy enough. This part of town wasn’t that far off from their new house and from what Jack could see when he pulled into the parking lot there were quite a few stores and fast food places that would come in handy. He did make a mental note to take Esme for a drive around the town later on this week so that they could get used to everything that was around them. 

The grocery store that he had been directed to was a rather larger one than he was used to and it was bright and clean so Jack had figured it would do for now until he got his bearings and found a grocery store he preferred. He moved the shopping cart down the first aisle and Esme followed along as he picked out things he knew they would need for the week coming up.

“So kiddo, what would you like for dinners this week? Are we thinking Italian like noodles or are we feeling something else?” He asked conversationally as they continued to shop.

“I don’t know Daddy. I always like your food.” Esme answered truthfully and Jack smiled over at her.

“You sure do got the Daniels charm don’t ya?” He asked around a grin and watched as she shrugged her shoulders at him. 

They easily made their way through the store and wound up finishing up in the ice cream aisle. Both him and Esme stood in front o the ice cream cooler staring at all the different brands and flavors of ice cream trying to decide on which one they’d like to get.

“Oh! Can I get the one with the little candy pieces already in it?” Esme asked excited as she pointed to the one she wanted. Jack nodded his head and opened the cooler door and reached in grabbing the container she had pointed to. He also grabbed a container of vanilla and one of chocolate. “Ugh! You’re so plain Daddy.” She sassed him and rolled her eyes at his choices.

“Uh I’ll have you know these two are absolute classics and blank slates. I can dress them up however I see fit. Why do you think we bought all of those extras to add to the ice cream?” He instructed her haughtily and she scoffed at him. “Don’t you sass me little girl I’ll put all of the foods you like back on the shelf and only feed you veggies for the rest of your life.” He teased her.

Esme whirled to look at him with a look of horror and he smirked down at her. She quickly stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his middle and hugged him tightly.

“I take it back! I take it back! You’re not plain Daddy!” She cried trying to appease him and he chuckled softly patting the top of her head.

“C’mon kiddo let’s go pay for the groceries and get back home. We still gotta cook dinner.” He said softly to her and she grinned up at him before skipping over to the side of the cart and holding onto the side of it waiting for him. Shaking his head he grabbed onto the cart and began making car revving noises. Esme grinned excitedly up at him and hopped onto the cart holding onto the bar and putting her feet up on the undercarriage part.

“On your mark!” She cried excitedly and held on tight. Jack made louder revving noises. “Get set!” She called out. Jack moved his hands around the handle as if he was revving the engine further. “Go!” She cried out. 

At her cry Jack began pushing the cart quickly down the aisle towards the front of the store. When he turned he made a high squealing noise to imitate the tires on a road and Esme cheered happily. Jack couldn’t keep the grin off his face as he heard Esme’s happy cheer and laughter fill the air around him.

He had a good feeling about this move if he could make her laugh like this after just moving here. He hoped he could keep her spirits up as they navigated this new chapter in their lives.


	3. Finding Love In Legacy Oaks pt. 2

It’s been a whirlwind of a weekend since they had first moved in. Most of it spent getting the furniture to where they both wanted it and hanging up any pictures and paintings. Jack wasn’t due to go into the office until next week and he’s been taking advantage of that time to spend with Esme as they navigate the neighborhood and meet all the neighbors. Slowly driving down the back roads behind the community he turned into the back entrance and pulled up to the guard shack. Jeremy was there again and Jack easily rolled down his window so he could talk to Jeremy who waved at him and looked as if he wanted to say something.

* * *

“Go for a nice drive?” Jeremy asked kindly and waved to Esme in the back who giggled and waved back to him.

“Yup, went to go check out more areas around here and picked up some breakfast. Would you like a bagel?” Jack asked holding up a brown paper bag on the passenger seat next to him. Jeremy waved dismissively at him with a grateful smile.

“Thanks, but Bunny already dropped breakfast off for me.” He said happily.

“Bunny huh? I don’t think I’ve met her yet.” Jack said curiously.

“You probably haven’t she’s a busy little thing especially this time of year. She’s a graphic designer and since it’s the beginning of the year now all of her contracts are up for renewal, so she’s a little busy.” He explains easily as he leans against the doorjam of the guard shack.

“You seem to know an awful lot about my mystery neighbor.” Jack says slyly as he looks over at Jeremy. Jeremy instantly stands tall and waves his hands in front of him as a bright blush creeps up his face.

“No, no it’s not like that.” He begins to explain easily as one of his hands comes up to rub at the back of his neck. “We have a monthly poker game between a few of us from my section and her section. Plus she was there for me when I got divorced from my ex-husband.” He explained. Jack felt guilt claw up from his stomach as he stared at the blushing man before him.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to pry.” Jack said softly as he frowned at himself. Jeremy grinned and shook his head.

“It’s not a big deal everyone knows about the divorce so it’s no secret. The ex didn’t know how to keep his mouth shut.” Jeremy responds with a shrug of his shoulders. “Bunny helped me through a lot of shi-stuff. Sorry I forgot she was back there.” Jeremy apologized as his eyes darted back to Esme in her booster seat.

“It’s okay she didn’t hear you. Well I’m glad Bunny was there for ya, ya know if you ever need someone to talk to I’m available. I could use a few new friends in here.” Jack offered easily and he watched as Jeremy smiled widely at him.

“You’re just trying to use me to meet your mysterious neighbor.” Jeremy teased goodnaturedly and Jack barked out a laugh at his words. 

“Nah, I’ll eventually meet her.” Jack said with a dismissive wave.

“Alright, I’m down for it. We hold a monthly poker night between my section of the community and your section of the community if you’re interested. Henry, Bunny and a few others from your section come over and we hold at least two tables depending on who shows up.” Jeremy explained excitedly. “I’ll get Henry to give you the details if you’re interested?” Jeremy offered and Jack nodded his head eagerly.

“That’d be great.” Jack said warmly and the two men nodded their heads at each other.

“Daddy! I’m hungry!” Esme whined softly from the back seat and Jeremy chuckled softly and Jack smiled softly.

“Sorry Es, we’re going.” Jack answered softly and Jeremy waved at the two of them as Jack began driving into the community. 

As he drove along the main road he saw one or two small parks and then as he drove closer to the middle of the large community he spotted a larger park that held a few sports fields and at least two large kid playgrounds. The large park area seemed to stretch farther and Jack couldn’t see all of that was included but from what he could tell the park was a central feature of the community with all the residential homes spread around the park in a branch system pattern.

“WOW DADDY! LOOK AT THAT PARK!!” Esme shouted from the back seat as she gazed out the window of it.

“I see it Es.” Jack said chuckling softly at her excitement.

“Can we go there Daddy? Pppplllleeeeeaaasssseeeee?” She drug out the last word and Jack laughed happily as he nodded his head. 

“Yeah Es, we can go to the park after breakfast how does that sound?” He suggested and when his eyes flickered up to the rear view mirror he saw her clapping her hands excitedly.

“Yes!” She cheered as she threw her hands up in the air happily.

———

After breakfast as Jack had promised him and Esme were pulling on their jackets and getting ready to walk over to the park that they had spotted earlier this morning. Esme was slipping on her sparkling purple sneakers while Jack slipped into his cowboy boots that stood near the front door.

“Do you want to take your bike so you can ride it there and back?” Jack asked curiously as he watched his daughter finish tying her laces. His mind drifted back to the time when he was just teaching her how to tie her laces and he smiled softly at the memory.

“Oh! Yeah! Maybe I’ll go so fast that my streamers will fly!” She said excitedly. Jack smiled warmly at her as she began to bounce on her toes as she made her way over to him. Grabbing his keys from the hook on the wall Jack ushered Esme out the door and quickly locked the front door behind them. As Esme bounced down the front steps Jack spotted Henry standing at his hedges that was the border that split their driveway from his. 

“Just give me one second Es ok?” Jack called over his shoulder as he walked over to Henry.

“Ok Daddy!” Called Esme as she moved towards the garage door to wait for him.

“Morning Henry.” Jack said in greeting to his neighbor as he stepped over to him. Jack’s eyes landed on a woman kneeling down over the flowerbeds up against Henry’s house and he halted for a moment.

“Good Morning Jack. Honey, come over and meet our new neighbor.” Henry greeted before calling to the woman over his shoulder. When she stepped up to Henry’s side she smiled warmly at him in greeting. She was a average height with long flowing red hair that was styled in twin braids on either side of her head, vibrant green eyes stared back at him and he could see a slew of freckles across her face. “Jack this is my wife Sarah, she was on a work conference when you and Esme moved in the past weekend so she wasn’t here to meet you then. Honey this is Jack Daniels our new neighbor and his little girl Esme.” Henry introduced easily with a bright smile.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Jack. Henry hasn’t been able to shut up about you.” She said teasingly as she nudged her husband with her hip and he grinned ducking his head. “He’s very excited to have another guy to talk to in the neighborhood that’s around his age.” She explained happily as a grin grew on her face.

“Oh trust me I’m more than happy to have moved next to you and Henry. He’s been a big help with all the local food places to eat at.” Jack said happily and Sarah laughed nodding her head. 

“Henry’s not much of a cook so when I’m away because of work he’s getting take out so if you have any food related questions he’s your go to.” She admitted fondly as she wrapped an arm around Henry’s waist who blushed softly and shook his head.

“She gets a kick out of teasing me. Don’t mind her.” Henry said fondly as he gently pushed Sarah away from him and she laughed brightly and cuddled back to his side. “Are you and Es off again?” Henry asked he looked over to Jack’s right to where Esme was kicking a rock around their long driveway.

“Yes, we found a large park area in the middle of the community this morning and were going to go play on the playgrounds over them.” Jack explained and watched as Sarah and Henry nodded their head.

“Oh that’s called the Hub.” Sarah explained. “It’s this huge piece of property, holds the community clubhouse, a few soccer fields, a couple of playgrounds, two dog parks and the bbq area with a gazebo.” Jack could feel his eyes widening as Sarah continued to list off what the property held. 

“Wow, that’s a lot.” Jack said softly in awe and both Henry and Sarah laughed nodding their heads.

“It is but it’s a wonderful piece of property and the whole community uses it and upkeeps it as much as they can.” Henry explained fondly. “It’s kind like all of our pet project I guess. We all take pride in it.” 

“That’s a massive project.” He said still in awe.

“Yeah, but we all do a little part of it so it’s not that too intimidating.” Henry said nodding his head. Jack smiled softly and nodded his head along with Henry.

“Daddy! Can we go now??” Called Esme from the garage and Sarah chuckled softly.

“Don’t keep that little one waiting now.” She teased and patted Henry’s chest before she waved at Jack and walked back to her flowerbeds. “It was nice to meet you Jack. I’ll be seeing you around the neighborhood.”

“You too Sarah. I’ll see you later Henry.” Jack said softly before turning to Esme who was bouncing on her toes next to the garage door. Walking over Jack easily unlocked the garage and pushed the door open. He held it open so that Esme could run in and grab her bike and wheel it out. 

———

Jack and Esme were now on their way to the large park making their way through their neighborhood. Esme was pedaling her bike a little ways ahead of him as he walked. He waved at Mrs. Turnbill and Mrs. Parker who were sitting on Mrs. Turnbill’s front porch swing idly chatting across the street. He had met them and their husbands the other day when he was out collecting his mail from his mailbox. The two couples were the oldest residents in this section and they took great pride in that.

The only other resident who was as old as them was Mr. Quinten who lived in the house next to Mrs. Parker. Jack had found it quite amusing to have the three oldest households living right next to each other. Jack hadn’t met Mr. Quinten yet but had heard from the ladies that Mr. Quinten was a widow of quite a few years and was dealing with his declining health even though his mind was as sharp as ever.

As Jack continued to walk through the neighborhood behind Esme he saw other neighbors that he had met and some that he still had yet to meet. Waving and calling out greetings to them he found that most of his new neighbors were quite friendly.

Just as he was following Esme around a corner he spotted a slender woman dressed in a brightly neon colored workout outfit jogging along the street as she listened to music. She had a black medium length high ponytail that swished behind her as she jogged. Suddenly she spotted Jack and a wide grin fell across her lips and she slowed her jog.

“Hey Es, hold up a minute ok?” Jack called out to Esme who stopped her bike and stood with it in between her legs as she looked back at him. He held up his finger and watched her visibly huff at him making him have to hold in his laughter.

“Hey there neighbor!” Called the woman as she came to a stop in front of him and took her earbuds out of her ears. “I’m Cynthia Hargrove.” She introduced herself as she held out her hand to Jack. Jack shook her hand and noticed the large engagement ring and the diamond wedding band on her ring finger.

“Jack Daniels, it’s nice to meet you Mrs. Hargrove.” He introduced himself and she simpered in front of him.

“I was curious about who had finally moved into the Granger’s old house. Didn’t know it was going to be a handsome stud like yourself.” She sultrily said to him and fluttered her eyelashes at him. Jack retracted his hand and was instantly repulsed by her attitude towards him.

“I’m sorry Ma’am but aren’t you married?” He asked as his eyes flicked to her ring finger again and she waved her hand in the air between the two of them.

“Yes, well if you don’t tell I certainly won’t.” She simpered to him and fluttered her eyelashes again at him as her hand came up to rest on his forearm. Jack took a step back from her watching her with a disgusted look on his face. “Oh relax, I was only kidding.” She said dismissively as she giggled in a high pitched annoying laugh. “Anyway I’ve got to get back to my run but I hope to see you at the monthly meeting!” She said brightly and waved at him before side stepping him and letting her hand just lightly graze his arm before she slipped her ear buds back in and began jogging away with a satisfied grin. Jack shook his head as he looked back at the woman jogging away. He couldn’t believe that she would have the audacity to flirt with him.

Turning back around Jack walked up to Esme and rested a hand on her back as she looked up at him. She looked up at him for a moment with scrutinizing eyes and he wondered if she heard what Mrs. Hargrove had said to him.

“You okay Dad?” Esme asked brightly as she grinned up at him and he smiled back down at her. 

“I’m fine Es. Let’s get that park yeah?” He asked warmly and she grinned and eagerly nodded her head at him before beginning to pedal the bike.

———

When they had finally reached the park Jack was in complete awe of how big the area was. When Sarah and Henry had explained it he was in awe but now after seeing it he was even more in awe of how massive the space was.

“Oh my gosh! This is amazing!!” Cried Esme as she quickly ditched her bike in the dirt and booked it towards the playground. Jack chuckled as he walked over and picked up her bike to rest it against the black chain link fence. 

There were a few other kids playing on the playground and Jack watched as Esme quickly began playing with them before he spotted a few parents keeping watch over all of them. Walking over to the parents he smiled kindly and waved at them. They all greeted him back with a wave.

“You’re a new face.” Says a friendly looking dark brown haired woman who had a tired look on her face as she held up a bundled up infant while she sat on a bench.

“Yes, we just moved into the gardenscape section of the community. I’m Jack Daniels and that’s my daughter Esme over there.” He said friendly as he pointed out Esme who was climbing up one of the playground towers. 

“It’s nice to meet you I’m Penny Rogers and I’ve got a little group up on the playground.” She said waving her hand towards the playground. “Dylan don’t tease your brother!” She shouted tiredly and Jack smiled as he watched a young brown haired little boy stop his teasing and looked over at them.

“Sorry Ma!” He called back and then ran off from a smaller brown haired little boy.

“So you said you moved into the gardenscape section?” Asked a blonde haired man who was sitting next to Penny on the bench. Jack nodded his head at the man and stepped closer to the two of them. “I’m Lyle Boggs by the way.” 

“Yeah apparently we moved into the old Granger’s house. I learned that today.” Jack explained and Penny nodded her head at his words.

“So have you met Cynthia?” Asked Lyle with a knowing smirk and Jack flinched slightly at the name and both Penny and Lyle burst out laughing. “Oh you have.” 

“This morning I met her while she was on her run.” Jack said nodding his head and with a look of disgust on his face. Penny and Lyle snickered softly at the look on his face.

“Let me guess she flirted with you?” Asked Penny curiously as her eyes darted back over to the kids playing on the playground.

“Yes, and she was wearing a wedding ring.” Jack said nodding his head.

“Yeah Cynthia doesn’t care that she’s married she’s always looking for the next best thing. Wether that be a new man or a new job or what have you. She’s one of the more wealthier ones in your section and she’s on the home owner’s association board for your section and the board for the whole community.” Lyle said with a shrug of his shoulders. “She’s used to getting what she wants so just be careful with that one.” 

Jack nodded his head at the warning and turned to watch over Esme. She was running around the playground with another little girl who had long flowing blonde hair. The two of them were racing around the playground and climbing all over the playground. 

“Have you met all of your neighbors?” Penny asked as she kept her eyes on the kids playing.

“Almost there’s a few families that I haven’t met and there’s a woman that I keep hearing about.” Jack responded and watched as both Lyle and Penny lit up right in front of him.

“Bunny?” Lyle asked a little breathlessly and Jack smiled at him curiously as he nodded his head.

“Oh she’s over there at the dog park. She’s been on her phone all morning so I don’t think she’s got time right now to come over and chat. Though that little corgi in there is her’s, his name is Butter.” Penny explained as she waved her hand over her shoulder.

Jack turned and looked at the dog park that wasn’t very far from the playground. He could see a woman dressed in a pair of blue jeans and large maroon knitted sweater as she sat on the bench talking on her phone. Jack felt a small flutter in his lower stomach as he took her in, she was gorgeous in an assuming way that just hit square in the chest. He watched as she looked over to the playground and a bright warm smile fell across her face and the small flutter grew larger in his stomach. Her hand came up and waved at him, Penny and Lyle as she continued talking on the phone. Jack smiled back and waved over at her.

He furrowed his brow a little bit when he felt as if something was suddenly missing when the woman looked away from him and she began whistling. He silently berated himself for feeling attraction after only two years since Maria’s death. It was still a very sore subject for him to even think about and he suddenly didn’t feel ready for any of this. Sucking in a deep breath through his Jack slowly blew out the breath and counted silently in his head trying to calm himself down.

After Maria’s death he and Esme had attended therapy together since the passing of his wife was so sudden and so quick. It had left a very large hole in their lives all of a sudden and Jack didn’t have the wherewithal on how to navigate that with a young eight year old at the time. One thing that stuck with Jack during therapy was ways to calm himself and Es down. Thankfully they had stuck with him because even after therapy there were times when things were just too much for him to handle.

“You okay Jack?” Lyle asked softly and Jack looked up to see Penny and Lyle both watching him silently.

“Yeah, sorry was just thinking that’s all.” Jack said, smiling as he shook his head.

“About Bunny?” Lyle asked teasingly. Jack just smiled softly and leaned back against the chain link fence continuing to watch Esme as she played on the playground. He was definitely growing more curious about his mystery neighbor and couldn’t wait to meet her finally. 


	4. Finding Love In Legacy Oaks pt. 2.5

It was early one morning when Jack stepped out to grab the morning paper when he noticed the medium sized box on his front step. Staring at it curiously he could see that it was a normal looking brown box that had a bunch of writing on the outside of it different colored letters. On top of the box in purple sparkling block letters was  _ For Jack and Esme Daniels.  _ Grabbing the newspaper and setting it atop the box he easily picked up the box looking around to see if he could spot who would have left it on his step.

When he turned his head left and right he didn’t see anyone on the sidewalks or for that matter out in their front yards. Shrugging his shoulders he stepped back into the house and began walking through the living room towards the kitchen. 

Esme spotted him immediately as she was laying on the floor in front of the tv watching cartoons. She bounced up from her spot on the floor and darted over to him quickly. Dancing around him Jack could see the excitement in her eyes as she stared a the box.

“Oooh! What’s that? Did you order something? Is it for me? It’s got my name on it.” Esme spouted out the questions like rapid fire as she bounced next to Jack while they made their way into the kitchen. 

“Relax Es. Take a breath you don’t want to trigger your asthma.” He warned her as he slid the box on the kitchen island. Esme nodded and stopped her bouncing before sliding onto one of the kitchen stools near the box. Jack watched as she took a few slow deep breaths and calmed herself down. “Better, good.” Jack reassured her as he rubbed a hand along her back soothingly.

Jack then turned back to the box and began reading the lettering written on the box.  _ For Jack & Esme, Welcome to the neighborhood!, Welcome to Gardenscape! _ Were just some of the phrases written all around the box in bright colorful permanent marker.

“So who’s it from?” Esme asked as she watched Jack open the top of the box that had just the flaps folded in on themselves. Jack peered into the box and tilted his head curiously as he saw the wide range of items in the box. Esme kneeled up on the stool and peered into the box as well before she squealed in delight. “Look at the pretty flowers Daddy!” She cried happily.

Inside the box laying on top were two white envelopes with Jack’s and Esme’s names on them, so before Esme could start reaching into the box he pulled out the envelopes and handed Esme’s to hers. She quickly tore into the envelope and pulled out a card that had a pirate on the front that looked like it had been drawn on to add longer hair with a cute pirate saying on it. Jack smiled and turned back to his card pulling it out to see a simple red card with the words celebrating his new home. Still with a smile on his face he opened the card to see half normal print and half cursive writing looping across the card, he idly thought it was pretty handwriting of the gift giver.

_ Welcome to the neighborhood! I hope your move here wasn’t too too stressful and that you find yourself relaxing in your new home. I wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood the only way I know how, with this here care package. I’m kind of known for them, just ask any of your neighbors. _

_ Anyway, I’ve packed a few goodies in here for you and Esme. I’ve been quite a lot about the two of you from the other neighbors. I apologize that I haven’t introduced myself yet, but I’ve been a little busy with my work and helping out the neighbors with some of their things they need handled. I promise I will come and introduce myself at the monthly meeting. _

_ So in your package is a loaf of Mrs. Parker’s infamous Rye bread, she is a wonderful baker and if you can swindle anything out of her make sure it’s her bread. It. Is. To. Die. For! There are also three different homemade jams, strawberry, blackberry, and raspberry. I’m not much of a baker besides chocolate cookies but I do have a garden and enjoy making jams and canning any of the produce and fruit that I grow. You’ll also find a jar of homemade dill pickles in the box as well (like I said I love canning and pickles are my jam! Hah!). There’s a mug in there that I figured you would enjoy after moving into our little section. A brand new doormat that I hope brings a smile to your face every time you come home. A batch of chocolate chips that I baked, it’s the only thing I’m good at baking so enjoy. A pretty bouquet of some of my favorite flowers, Tulips, that I grow in my own garden to brighten up your home. _

_ And finally for Esme I’ve included a Unicorn journal and a set of sparkle pens. I only recently found out that she loves pirates so if unicorns aren’t her thing I apologize! _

_ Hope to see you at the monthly meeting at the end of this week! _

_ Your Friendly Neighbor, _

__ __ __ _ Bunny (Not my real name but everyone has nicknamed me this because apparently I’m like the energizer bunny.) _

Jack grinned softly as he finished reading his card and slowly closed it, setting it down on the kitchen island. He looked over to Esme and saw her eagerly reading her own card. Picking up the pretty yellow tulip bouquet he moved towards the sink and opened the cabinet under it to search for a vase to set the flowers in.

After filling it with water and setting the flowers in it he placed it in the middle of the kitchen island. Esme sighed softly and shut her card placing it down on the kitchen island. Jack smiled softly at her response to the kind gesture of their new neighbor.

“Can I ask what your card said?” He asked curiously as his eyes watched Esme silently.

“No Daddy. It’s girl stuff. Bunny said I could share with you if I wanted but I didn’t have to.” She said firmly and Jack nodded his head agreeing with her having a gut feeling that Bunny wouldn’t be a bad influence on Esme.

“You’re absolutely right kiddo. You can choose if you want to share with me.” He said kindly. “So what do you say we dig into this bread and jam Bunny gave us?” He asked and Esme nodded eagerly.

———

After having a hearty breakfast of sunny side up eggs, bacon and toasted Mrs. Parker’s rye bread with butter and a mix of the three jams Jack leaned back in his chair and smiled lazily over at Esme. She had already cleaned her plate and was now flipping through the blank journal with the set of sparkle pens lying next to it.

“Now that’s gonna be your journal. I won’t read it unless you want me to. But if something is bothering you I want you to come to me and tell me got it? Don’t keep it to yourself.” Jack said knowingly as he looked at Esme imploringly. Esme nodded her head and looked over at him.

“Kinda like after Mommy died?” She asked softly and Jack felt his heart skip a beat in his chest.

“Yeah we don’t want a repeat of that time after Mommy died okay?” He said softly nodding his head. Jack opened his arms and Esme quickly slid off her chair and crawled into his lap hugging him tightly.

“I love you Daddy.” Esme said softly as the two of them hugged each other close.

“Love you lots like jelly tots?” He asked teasingly and Esme groaned against him but Jack quickly held her squirming little body tight to his.

“DADDY!!” She cried exasperatedly and Jack laughed loudly as he struggled with holding her close.

“Nope you gotta say it you know the rules!” He sang in a singsong voice making Esme grunt and groan as she tried to struggle out of his arms. “Say it! I won’t ever let you go Esme Daniels unless you say it!” He called out amused. 

“Fine!” She cried annoyed and the struggling instantly stopped as Jack eagerly awaited her words. “Love you lots like jelly tots.” She said around a giggle and Jack grinned as he hugged her tightly before pressing a kiss to her temple. “Daddy! I can’t breathe!” She cried out trying to get him to release her and he laughed as his arms slowly did release her.

“Esme Daniels you can take my breath away all the time.” He said grinning at her. Esme huffed and rolled her eyes at him.

“Daddy I’m too big to say that stuff anymore.” She huffed at as she began to clean her pens and new journal up and walked out of the room. 

Jack was still grinning as he leaned back in his chair, he knew Esme was growing up and soon she would be right when she said she was too big to be saying their cute little phrases. But Jack couldn’t help wanting to hold on to these little moments just a little bit longer. 

Where they said silly things meaning I love you, like the jelly tots phrase. He remembered when she had first said that phrase to him. It had been after one of his “work trips” that had taken across the big blue pond to the UK. While he was over there he had found these sugar coated jelly sweets called Jelly Tots and he had picked up a bag for Esme to bring home to her. She had loved the little candies and they had become one of her favorite sweets to eat. It wasn’t until they were fooling around one night while watching a princess movie that the phrase had popped out of her mouth and it had just stuck. The two of them would say it random times to make it more special to them.

And as he sat there listening to the soft humming of Esme from her room he couldn’t help but remember the first time he had told her that she could take his breath away all the time. It had been the doctor visit where she was diagnosed with asthma. She had been sitting on the examination table in the doctor’s office and Jack could tell she was feeling sad at her new prognosis. No matter what Maria tried to do to cheer her up nothing seemed to work. It was just a stroke of genius that the little phrase formed in his brain and he said it out loud with a goofy grin on his face.

When Esme had looked up at him and giggled happily at the silly phrase Jack knew immediately that it would be said just to cheer her up and to show that he loved her dearly. For him it was those little moments that he loved best to share with her.

Standing from his chair he cleared away the plates and set them in the sink. Moving back towards the box he remembered that the card had said there was a mug in there for him. Reaching in and digging around the box he found it easily pulling it out to wash it with the other dishes. When he ready the funny saying on it he burst out into happy laughter and shook his head. Whoever this Bunny person was he couldn’t wait to meet her if her humor really was how she was presenting it in her gifts for him and Esme.

———

After washing and drying the dishes Jack easily went through the rest of the box and stored the baked cookies on the counter and pulled out the rolled up doormat so he could go set it outside the front door. He slipped the rolled up doormat under his armpit and walked towards the front door and stepped outside. 

The neighborhood was slowly starting to wake up and people were stepping outside to either leave for work or to pick up their newspapers. Jack waved over to Mr. Turnbill as he got into his station wagon and pulled out of his driveway. Sarah and Henry were next to leave in separate cars and they both waved at Jack before they drove away. 

Just then Jack heard a lawnmower powering on and he turned his head to look past Mrs. Parker’s residence to where he had been told Mr. Quinten lived and saw the same woman from the dog park pushing the lawnmower over the front yard grass as an elderly man sat on the front porch. Jack watched for a few minutes as the woman pushed the lawnmower over the grass and he couldn’t see the elderly man yelling at her over the noise of the lawnmower. After a few minutes he watched as she stopped suddenly and whirled around waving her hands in the air at the elderly man.

“I’m pretty sure you ain’t got a say in  _ how  _ I do it. I’ve been mowing your grass for  _ how _ many years now?! I know how you like your lawn mowed!” Came her aggravated voice through the air. Jack pressed his lips together trying not to laugh at the two arguing over how the lawn should be mowed. When he saw the man gesturing towards the lawn in an impatient manner the woman responded with a huff and turned back to the mower. 

Jack smiled as her eyes landed on him and her face seemed to light up with a grin. She waved happily and he waved back. He showed her the rolled up mat and nodded his head before unrolling it and laying in front of the door. When he looked down he burst out in peals of laughter as he read what was on the door mat. Turning back to the woman who was standing there watching him with a grin on her face he waved again.

“Thank you!” He called out.

“You’re welcome!” She called back and he could hear the delight and amusement in her voice when she spoke. She then turned the mower back on and continued to mow Mr. Quinten’s lawn. Jack smiled and stepped back into his house. He really couldn’t wait to finally meet the infamous Bunny.


	5. Finding Love In Legacy Oaks pt. 3

Jack swung his arm with Esme’s as they both walked up to the clubhouse situated in the community center. It was farther from the playground area but Jack and Esme didn’t mind the walk. He actually preferred it because it gave him time to talk to Esme about her upcoming entry into school. 

Since they had moved right after the Christmas holidays school had been on winter break and would finally be going back in next week. He was nervous for Esme, she would be starting a brand new school with brand new teachers and brand new students. Not to mention it was already half way through the school year and she was transferring in. 

“So are you nervous about starting school next week?” Jack asked softly trying to get a read on Esme and how she was feeling. He watched as she laughed and shook her head slightly. 

“No Daddy. I’m excited! I get to go back to school and there’s going to be new teachers to teach me things and new friends to make.” She said excitedly and Jack smiled softly down at her nodding his head along to her words.

“That’s good. If you ever get nervous, you can tell me okay?” He asked trying to make sure that she knew he was there for her.

“I know Daddy. Remember we promised we wouldn’t do the same after Mommy died.” Esme said softly as she tugged his hand back to her. Jack turned and kneeled down in front of her. They were stopped not far from the sidewalk that led up to the community center where their neighbors were walking towards the entry doors. Cars were parking around them in the parking lot but all Jack could focus on was Esme. 

He stared silently into her eyes and watched as she smiled brightly at him before her little arms came up and wrapped around his neck in a tight hug. His own arms came up and wrapped tightly around her torso holding her close to his body. He took in a breath as his face buried in her hair and he couldn’t help but smile. She still smelled the same even though everything else around them was changing.

Esme pulled away slightly so that she was looking into his eyes. Her little tiny hands came up to cup his cheeks and pressed inward making his lips pucker. She giggled brightly and Jack huffed in laughter before he heard other soft laughter coming from his right. He whipped his head around and saw Mrs. Turnbill and Mrs. Parker laughing softly as they watched both Jack and Esme. Jack cleared his throat and stood quickly taking Esme’s hand softly in his.

“Evenin’ ladies.” He greeted them and they laughed softly again.

“Oh no, don’t stop on our behalf please. It was very endearing to watch.” Mrs. Turnbill said kindly as she smiled warmly at Jack and Esme.

“Edith! Would you get your behind in gear the meeting is going to start in another twenty minutes!” Came the loud shouting from Mr. Turnbill who was standing at the entry doors to the clubhouse. Jack smiled as he watched Mrs. Parker burst out into laughter while Mrs. Turnbill huffed and scowled at her husband. The two ladies then began walking up towards the doors where their husbands were waiting.

“C’mon Daddy!” Esme called as she began to tug on his hand leading him towards the door.

———

The medium sized room that Jack could see was one of many in the clubhouse, was filling up rather quickly and the loud noise and chatter of all of his neighbors was almost deafening. As he stood at the doorway with Esme next to him and took in everything in the room, he was surprised by how many people were in the room. 

His eyes roved over the room and he spotted certain neighbors that he knew from when he settled in but there were still neighbors that he still had yet to meet. As his eyes moved about the room he spotted a cornered off spot that had a group of older teenagers watching over a group of younger children. One of the mothers he had seen at the playground a few times but hadn’t spoken to was standing over there talking to one of the teenagers.

“Hey Jack. Hey Esme.” Came a warm greeting to Jack’s left making him turn to look over at Henry.

“Hi Henry!” Esme greeted happily as she sidled into Jack’s side. Jack nodded his head at the man and set a comforting hand against Esme’s back. 

“If you don’t want Esme to sit in on the meeting, there’s a group of teenagers over in that corner that do arts and crafts with the younger kids to keep them busy so that they don’t get bored.” Henry suggested. Jack looked down at Esme and saw her already looking over at the other kids.

“Do you want to go over there Es?” Jack asked softly. She looked up at him and nodded but pressed back into his side. 

“Hey Esme!” Called out someone making both Jack and Esme look over to see Sarah waving animatedly over at her from near the teenagers. “Come see what I’ve got over here.” Sarah said warmly as she gestured for Esme to come over. Esme looked up at Jack and he nodded his head at her before she grinned and then dashed over to Sarah who easily helped her set up the arts and crafts.

“Hey Henry, have you seen Sarah? She was supposed to be helping me with the food table but she disappeared on me.” Came a slightly familiar voice from behind Jack. He turned to see the notorious mysterious woman named Bunny standing next to Henry in a large knit forest green sweater that looked three sizes too big and a pair of black leggings with tan ankle boots. She smiled widely at Henry as she turned to him from looking for her friend. Jack felt as if the air in his lungs was sucked violently from him and he coughed deeply in his chest. His cough drew the eyes of Bunny and he could see the concern and worry suddenly fill them as she looked over him. “Are you alright? Are you sick? I’ve got something for that if you need it.” She questioned and offered up so easily that it made Jack’s head spin a little bit.

“Relax Bunny you just snuck up on him that’s all.” Henry swung in with an easy excuse and Jack nodded his head agreeing with him. The woman before flushed softly in her cheeks and Jack felt his heart thud heavily in his chest.

“Sorry, I tend to do that.” Bunny responded as she brought a hand up to rub at the back of her neck in embarrassment. 

“No, no quite alright. No harm no foul. I’m Jack Daniels by the way. I don’t think we’ve met formally.” Jack said easily and stuck his hand to her. She grinned brightly up at him and nodded her head before slipping her own hand into his. 

Electricity shot from her hand to his and Jack felt the jolt travel instantly down his spine making him suck in a breath. He watched as Bunny’s eyes widened and her cheeks furiously began to heat with a blush before she shook his hand quickly and pulled away just as quickly.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Jack. I’m-“ she began to introduce herself.

“Bunny! There you are dear!” Called out Mrs. Parker as she came walking over to their little group. The elderly woman wrapped her arms around Bunny and grinned over at Jack and Henry. “You two won’t mind if I steal her away would you?” 

“They were just being introduced.” Henry snipped out and Jack looked over to him surprised for a moment. 

“Oh well I’m very sorry for that. I’ll come get you later. It’s nothing major just more computer questions from Ben.” Mrs. Parker tried to dismiss but Bunny shook her head. Jack watched as her eyes darted over to him with an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry Jack. I promise after the meeting I’ll come and talk with you alright. Properly introduce myself. I just gotta help Mr. Parker out with his computer now otherwise he makes it worse and it’s double the work for me later.” Bunny explained softly to him with apologetic eyes.

“Don’t worry about it we can talk later.” Jack reassured her easily as he waved a hand in the air dismissively. He watched silently as Bunny was led away by Mrs. Parker, and just as they rejoined the older group Bunny looked over her shoulder and winked at Jack with a happy smile making Jack’s heart clench in his chest. 

“Meddling old hags.” Henry griped out softly and Jack whipped his head around in surprise before he burst out laughing. When his eyes danced over to Bunny again he could see her explaining things to Mr. Parker but her eyes were watching him silently as they danced with amusement. When she realized he had caught her she quickly moved her eyes away and tried to make it seem as if she hadn’t been watching him. The thought that he caught her eye made his stomach erupt in butterflies.  _ Oh he was in trouble. _

———

For most of the meeting the information and arguments that were thrown around were way over his head. He felt as if he and Esme hadn’t been here long enough yet to have an opinion on things. He hoped that one day soon he would feel as if he could contribute to the community since they had all been so welcoming to him since they had moved in.

Right now the board of members which consisted of only five sat at a long table in front facing the larger group of chairs holding all of the neighbors in their section. They had gone over a few issues and concerns of the community already and soon it felt as if the meeting was finally coming to a close. Jack sat next to Henry and Sarah while he could easily see Bunny sitting in the front row of the chairs facing the long table of board members.

“Alright so since we’ve covered everything that was brought up last meeting and the concerns that some of you had had this meeting. Let’s start wrapping this up. I would like to thank Bunny for organizing the book drive that came last month to the whole community. That was a great success and it brought a lot of attention to educating ourselves with reading. Great job Bunny.” Said a portly middle aged woman who sat at the long table. Claps and cheers went up around the room and Jack could see Bunny ducking her head at the attention.

“Now we all know that come summer time the board of members will be up for reelection but there’s been some whisperings that we might be able to add on another person onto our community board. Since our section might be expanding depending on the builders of the community we figured we would ask for any suggestions if it does come sooner rather than later. Are there any nominations for a new board member?” Asked an older gentleman who had a rather large white bushy mustache and beard.

“I nominate Bunny.” Said Mrs. Parker as she raised her hand. Murmurs were heard all throughout the room and Jack could see the members of the board nodding towards each other.

“I second-“ began Mrs. Turnbill.

“She’s not qualified!” Interrupted a rather shrill voice and Jack’s eyes immediately shot over to Cynthia who sat in the middle of the board members table.

“Oh here we go.” Henry whispered to Jack as he leaned over to him. Jack sat there idly wondering what Henry meant.

“What do you mean she’s not qualified? I would think she’s overqualified!” Cried out Mrs. Parker sounding rather upset with the accusation from Cynthia.

“She has no experience in public speaking.” Cynthia griped out angrily. “She has only addressed a small group of people. She has no business being on the board. I motion to nominate Dianne.” Cynthia said dismissively as she waved her hand.

“Actually I do have experience with public speaking Cynthia.” Rang out Bunny’s voice as she stood from her seat. “It may not be what you’ve got experience in but I do have experience. Look I care about our little neighborhood. I want the best for it just like anyone else here. But I’ve put myself out there to help coordinate more gatherings and hobby clubs this year than last year. I’ve already got quite a few lined up in the calendar that are being co-hosted by other neighborhoods with ours.” Bunny explained easily as she spoke to the board of members. “I love our neighborhood, I couldn’t picture myself living anywhere else. It’s my home just like everyone else’s. I would love to be on the board of members. I’ve got some great ideas-“ Jack could feel his heart rate kicking up as he listened to Bunny’s words and he actually felt the love and care she had for their neighborhood.

“We don’t even know for sure if there will be another open spot.” Cynthia cut her off easily and waved her hand in the air.

“Then what are you so worried about?” Bunny asked curiously as she stared at Cynthia. Cynthia glowered at Bunny from her seat and pursed her lips tightly together. Jack could not only see the anger but feel it rolling off of Cynthia is waves towards Bunny.

“We will come back to this discussion. Thank you everyone for coming please enjoy some of the dinner that you all have cooked for everyone.” Said the middle aged woman as she gestured to the food tables. 

Many people moved quickly to the food tables but Jack stayed in his seat next to Henry. His eyes darted over to Bunny and saw that her shoulders had slumped forward and she was looking dejectedly at the floor. Mrs. Parker and Mrs. Turnbill were quietly talking to her trying to cheer her up but it didn’t seem as if it was working.

Jack stood from his chair and began to step out of the aisle to move over towards Bunny. He was about to take a step in her direction when suddenly Cynthia appeared in his way.

“Well hello there handsome. Care to share some dinner with me?” She asked in a sultry voice that seemed to set Jack’s nerves on edge as she fluttered her eyelashes up at him. Frowning down at the woman he quickly side stepped her with a shake of his head and walked over to Bunny, Mrs. Parker and Mrs. Turnbill.

“Ladies, would you mind if I asked Bunny to have dinner with Esme and I?” Jack asked softly and he watched as Bunny whirled around with wide eyes. Mrs. Parker and Mrs. Turnbill both smirked knowingly over to Jack and they shook their heads before leaving quickly to harass their husbands.

Jack looked down at Bunny and immediately flushed wondering if he was too forward. He cleared his throat and rubbed his hand against the back of his neck. “I’m so sorry if that was too bold.” He apologized easily and Bunny grinned up at him.

“Well aren’t you polite and sweet as pie.” She teased softly and grinned shaking her head. “Not too bold. But you do know that they are going to spread that like wildfire right?” She asked grimacing softly. “Those two are horrible gossips and can’t seem to keep their mouths shut if it did them any good.” Jack burst out laughing at Bunny’s accurate depiction of the two women.

“I don’t see a lie in any of your words.” He said conspiratorially and Bunny grinned up at him widely. Just then Jack felt a pair of tiny arms wrap around his leg and he looked down to see Esme hugging his leg as she held multiple colored drawings. “Esme I’d like for you to meet Bunny.” Jack introduced easily. Esme let out a loud gasp as she stepped away from Jack while looking up at the woman in front of them.

“You’re Bunny? The one who sent me the notebook and the glitter pens?” Esme asked in awe as she stared at the woman. Jack watched as Bunny squared down to look Esme in the eye and grinned widely as she held out her hand to Esme.

“One and the same. It’s great to finally meet you Esme. I’ve heard so much about you from everyone else.” Bunny said easily and Esme quickly looked down at her hand.

“Thank you so much for the pens and notebook I loved them!” Esme squealed before she launched herself at Bunny giving the woman a tight hug that knocked her back on her ass. Jack felt mortification consume him as he watched the scene unfold.

“Esme!” He cried out horrified and moved to help Bunny who gratefully took his help. But when she stood she wasn’t mad in fact she was laughing hysterically as she came to her feet.

“Oh, that knocked the wind outta me. Man you’ve some power behind ya don’t you sweetheart?” Bunny said around a laugh as she tried to catch her breath. “Dang near took my breath away.” She gasped out softly and Jack watched as Esme stared up at Bunny curiously for a moment before a beautiful adoring smile graced his daughter's lips.  _ Looks like he wasn’t the only one being enchanted by their mysterious neighbor. _


	6. Finding Love In Legacy Oaks pt. 3.5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pining idiots alert!! I repeat pining idiots alert! Haha, I love these two. Wasn’t too sure about the bully scene. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

“Wait you mean you didn’t have a candlelit dinner with your future husband and future step-daughter?!” Jeremy called into the phone loudly. Bunny pulled the phone away from her ear with a scoff and a scowling look on her face.

“Jeremy, geese! Why don’t you shriek a little louder I don’t think Mr. Quinten heard you next door!” She snapped out angrily. “And no, no candle lit dinner. Just some good food and good company with a grown man and his ten year old daughter. Who by the way is the most adorable little thing I have ever seen. And so well mannered!” She walked towards the front door and snagged the sparkly multicolored leash hanging on the wall and jingled the end of it to get Butter to come for his walk.

The sound of numerous nails clicking on the hardwood floors caught her attention and she turned grinning as she spotted her slightly overweight Corgi running or rather slipping across the floor towards her. “C’mon Butter! Who wants to go for a walk?” She said to him as she made kissy noises to him. Butter perked up and bounced around her feet as she tried to nab his collar to hook his leash up to it.

“Ugh! And here I thought by meeting a new man you’d graduate from the lonely dog lady.” Bemoaned Jeremy over the phone making Bunny burst out into laughter.

“Jeremy I’m hardly a lonely dog lady.” She said sternly as she grinned down at Butter. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about does he?” She asked Butter who yipped playfully around her feet. She quickly hooked the leash up to his collar and grabbed her keys from the hook on the wall. 

“You’re talking to him like he’s going to answer you!!” Jeremy cried out exasperatedly.

“You know Jer, maybe you should go back to your doctor and ask about those high blood pressure pills he mentioned last time. They might do you some good.” She teased him and heard him grumbling over the phone softly.

“What would do me some good would be for my best single lady friend to get with the program and date already!” Jeremy called out over the phone and Bunny shook her head as she checked herself in her front hall mirror. Slipping a pair of retro sunglasses on she grinned and nodded her head before opening her front door.

The weather was still chilly as they slowly creeped through January and Bunny was loving it. It was cool enough that she could still wear wooly sweaters and hooded sweatshirts but it was starting to warm up a bit that leggings and yoga pants were now acceptable. So dressed in a three sizes too large hooded gray sweatshirt, a long sleeved dark purple shirt, a pair of black leggings and a pair of light brown ankle boots she stepped out of the house with Butter.

“Are you going to meet me and Butter at the dog park so you can chastise me properly for not getting Jack’s number?” She asked as she easily locked her front door.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in ten minutes. I still can’t believe you didn’t get his number.” He said tiredly and she grinned softly.

“But then we couldn’t be the cofounders of Legacy Oak’s Single Ready To Mingle club.” She teased him.

“The whole point of that club is to help each other get dates! And you failed horribly at that.” Jeremy teased right back and she laughed softly as she shook her head. “I’ll see you in ten. Bye!” Called Jeremy over the phone.

“Bye see you.” Bunny responded easily and hung up the phone before she turned around and bounced down her front steps. Butter nearly tumbled down the stairs in his excitement and Bunny laughed at her silly dog before she bent down and picked up a few doggy waste bags quickly stuffing them in her front pocket. “Alright my little one let’s get going. Maybe we can see the school bus on the way there. You always love seeing the kids don’t ya?” Bunny said as she began walking down the sidewalk. 

Not many neighbors were out as the weather would be a little too chilly for the older neighbors and most of the others were still at work. But as Bunny walked along with Butter she waved at any neighbors that she saw out. As she walked around she noticed the leafless trees dotted around the neighborhood and she idly thought that while she loved the cooler weather she couldn’t wait for Spring and Summer to finally arrive. 

As Bunny and Butter were walking up to the corner Bunny could hear the loud engine of the bus as it drove along the road in the community. Butter began to excitedly stomp his small stubby legs and his tongue lolled out of his mouth. Bunny looked down and couldn’t help but laugh at the image he made. She quickly slipped her phone out and snapped a picture of him as he grew more excited to see the school bus. 

Looking to the entrance to their little neighborhood she spotted the long yellow bus as it pulled up to the corner and parked before the doors slid open allowing the kids to pile out. Some parents and nannies were waiting for their children to get out. They easily greeted their kids and began leading them away from the bus stop continuing to chatter about whatever it was that went on in their child’s day. Bunny idly wondered if she would ever experience something like that with a child of her own.

Just as the bus pulled away from the curb Bunny spotted Esme and she raised her hand to call out to the little girl before she took in Esme’s appearance. The little girl was staring silently down at the sidewalk, her long rich chocolate hair hung around her like a curtain hiding her face from the world and she was kicking at the rocks on the sidewalk. Tilting her head to the side Bunny wondered what could make the normally bright happy child so downtrodden. 

That’s when Bunny spotted the two older girls walking behind Esme. They looked older than Esme and they were walking not that far behind her whispering and giggling to each other. Whenever one of the girls would whisper to the other Esme’s shoulders would slump forward in defeat or self preservation. Bunny’s eyes widened as she realized suddenly what was going on, they’re bullying her.

Butter barked loudly at Bunny’s side and all three girls looked up in surprise. Bunny frowned at the two older girls and they seemed to shrink back under her attention.

“Hey Bunny!” Greeted one of them and she frowned further.

“Girls, have you met Esme? She’s new here in our neighborhood.” Bunny said kindly as she looked over at Esme with a bright smile. “And she’s a good friend of mine.” Esme seeme to perk up at Bunny’s words while the two older girls looked as if they had been chastised.

“Yeah we met her at school today.” Said one of the girls unsurely. “But she wasn’t able to do any sports today so she had to sit out at gym. Must be something wrong with her because everyone can do a sport.” The girl said with a soft scoff directed towards Esme who rounded her shoulders.

“Or she’s just a baby and needs special attention.” Added the other girl who sneered at Esme. Bunny felt her heart drop at the cruelty these girls were presenting especially for another little girl.

“Have you asked Esme why she can’t play during gym class? Maybe she has a medical condition, remember Ben when he lived across the street from you?” Bunny asked as she crossed her arms across her chest defensively.

“Oh yeah! Ben couldn’t run around with us because of his feet.” Said one of the girls as she remembered.

“Exactly but remember when we all did something else that Ben could do with all of you? Did you think he was a baby because he couldn’t run around with you?” Bunny asked softly trying to steer the girls away from the bullying.

“No, he was cool because he knew so much about space and the planets.” Said of the girls.

“Right! So Esme could be just like Ben, it’s not something she can control like Ben. And she probably wants to play during gym but can’t. Girls you have to be caring and not mean. Esme is new and she just moved here she doesn’t know anyone. How would you feel if you started school and on your first day some girls started teasing you because you couldn’t play in gym?” Bunny asked staring at them. She watched as the two little girls thought silently about it and then the realization in their eyes lit up.

“I’d feel really bad.” Said one of the them and Bunny nodded her head.

“Yeah, we’re sorry Esme.” Said the other girl and Bunny watched as Esme nodded at the two of them. “Maybe we can ask our moms if you can come play at our houses this weekend.” She offered and Esme seemed to perk up at the offer.

“I’d really like that.” Esme answered as she nodded her head.

“Ok we’ll go ask our moms. See you tomorrow Esme.” The girl said before they both waved at Esme who waved back and then the two girls ran down the sidewalk towards the houses yelling for their moms. 

Bunny turned back to Esme and saw she was now smiling and standing taller than she was when Bunny first saw her. Esme looked up at Bunny and then lunged forward wrapping her arms around Bunny’s hips. Bunny laughed and placed a soft hand against Esme’s hair and hugged her back.

“You alright? I know being new stinks at first. But it’ll get better I promise.” Bunny said softly before she squatted down to be at Esme’s level.

“Yeah, some of the kids were mean to me like those two girls. But I did meet two new friends at school.” Esme said happily as she bent down and began to pet Butter. 

“Wow, two new friends. That’s pretty cool, especially for a first day.” Bunny said quite impressed. “Hey if the kids are being mean to you you should tell your Dad so he can talk to your teacher and see if they can get the kids to stop.” 

“Yeah he’s going to ask me about today so I can tell him then.” Esme said distracted as she gave Butter belly rubs. Bunny smiled and shook her head as she looked down at her dog. He was completely on his back with his little legs in the air as Esme rubbed his exposed belly. The dog’s head lolled to the side to look at you and his tongue fell out of his panting mouth and Esme squealed in laughter.

“Butter you are horrible anyone can win you over with a belly rub huh?” Bunny asked the dog rhetorically and Esme burst out in happy laughter.

“Esme!?” Came a worried voice and Bunny’s head snapped up to see Jack walking hurriedly down the sidewalk. Bunny stood quickly and instantly felt bad for keeping Esme from getting home. Her breath left her body as she stared at Jack making his way over to the two of them. He looked so imposing as he looked straight at her trying to find out if she was a threat to his little girl. Bunny felt a shiver down her spine and her lungs suddenly remembered what their job was. “Geeze Es you about gave me a heart attack when you didn’t come home.” Jack rushed out as he stopped not far from you and Esme.

“Sor-“ Bunny began to explain sheepishly but Esme interrupted her.

“Daddy, Bunny and Butter saved me from some bullies.” Esme said with a wide grin.

“From some bullies?” Jack asked confused as he looked from Esme to Bunny bewildered.

“I was on my way to the dog park and saw Esme getting off the bus with two other girls teasing her and being bullies. So I kinda stepped in, I’m sorry I know I’m not a parent but I can’t stand bullies and had to step in. I didn’t mean to overstep.” Bunny rushed out quickly and her hands fluttered anxiously in front of her as she spoke. She had the biggest urge to explain everything about this encounter to him so that he didn’t think horribly about her. And she couldn’t seem to stop her mouth from still speaking. She watched as Jack’s confusion morphed on his face to a look of warmth before he held up a hand towards her.

“You didn’t overstep Bunny. I appreciate you looking out for Es for me. Makes me feel more at ease.” Jack said easily with a soft smile directed at Bunny. Bunny nodded and felt her heart skid to a stop at the soft smile directed at her. Her head quickly began to fill with a fog as she continued to stare at Jack and his easy warm smile. Shaking her head a little to clear it she hiked her thumb over her shoulder.

“Well I’m glad I didn’t overstep. I gotta go and meet up with Jeremy at the dog park. He’s probably sitting their wondering where I am. Um, glad you’re both okay. I’ll-uh I’ll see you guys around. Bye!” She rushed out and internally screamed at herself to just shut her mouth instead of inserting her foot.

“Bye Bunny!” Esme called as Bunny whirled around with a wave and began walking off.

———

Jack smiled as he walked along the sidewalk with Esme at his side. Ever since last night where he, Esme and Bunny spent the night talking about quite a bit, he hadn’t been able to get the woman out of his mind. 

From what he learned last night she was single and lived alone with Butter, she was a graphic designer and she had moved here about five years ago. And while he loved everything that he had learned about her there were other things that he learned about her that he was fond of even more. 

Like the fact that she cared deeply for her neighbors and was always looking out for them. She had gone the extra mile and pick up groceries for Mr. and Mrs. Parker when Mr. Parker had broken his foot last summer. And she was always driving Mr. Quinten to his doctor appointments to make sure he got to them okay. Plus she always made canned fruits and vegetables for her neighbors as gifts. 

Her love for their community shined brightly through her actions when she told him the many different events that she was helping out with during this upcoming year. Bunny was just a well rounded, very giving and generous woman. She was definitely someone that Jack would enjoy getting to know. 

And while her personality shone brightly through her Jack had to admit that the physical appearance of the woman was heart palpitations inducing. She was absolutely stunning to him and he felt that her happy bright caring personality just enhanced her looks even more.

“DADDY!” Cried Esme as she stomped her foot on the ground. Jack turned to look at Esme bewildered for a moment.

“What?” He asked distracted as the image of Bunny in her wintry weather outfit disappeared from his mind.

“Did you even hear a word I said?” Esme asked exasperated as she huffed at him and crossed her tiny arms over her chest.

“No sorry Es. What were you saying?” Jack asked kindly with a soft smile directed at her.

“What were you even thinking about that you didn’t even hear me?” Esme asked shrewdly as she stared up at him with her eyes narrowed. Jack’s eyes darted back to the corner and then back to his daughter.

“N-nothing. C’mon let’s get home so that we can get started on your homework before dinner.” Jack said easily ushering Esme back to the house. 

Esme looked back towards the corner where she had stopped with Bunny and then looked back up at her father frowning softly. She knew something was up and he wasn’t telling her.


	7. Finding Love In Legacy Oaks pt. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack finds out he needs to head in for a ‘work trip’ and Bunny lends a helping hand.

The morning dawned gray and quiet with only a few brave birds singing and chirping in the tree that stood right outside his window. Jack stared up at the ceiling silently taking in the relative quiet of the morning. He had started work last week and so far him and Esme had developed a routine that flowed well with the both of them.

During the week they would come back from work and school both tired and wanting to destress from their days. Jack would cook an easy uncomplicated dinner while helping Es with her homework. Once dinner and homework were done they’d eat together and talk about what was going with Es at school. 

Then once the weekend came around they’d spend as much time with each other as possible. Often spending most of the weekend at the large playground with the other kids in the community. Jack would meet the other parents often seeing Penny and Lyle there with their children. 

And while he loved their weekends together he had to say that his favorite part of the weekends was Sunday mornings. It was the only time that he and Es cooked together and were able to just enjoy the morning together. Saturday mornings were normally spent with Es waking up earlier than Jack and making her own breakfast because he would stay up the night before finishing up some leftover work for the next week.

No Sunday mornings were sacred in their household. It was the time that they would be able to talk, joke and just be carefree without any worries. Jack lived for those mornings and he found that he looked forward to them more and more.

Rolling to the side of the bed and swinging his legs over the side of the bed he rested his feet on the chilled floor. Hissing at the feeling of the cold floorboards he rubbed a hand over his tired face and grumbled softly to himself. Groaning softly as he stood from his bed he remembered all the running he had done with Esme around the playground yesterday. He knew he was going to be feeling it today, maybe he’d get lucky and convince Es to take an easy day today.

Moving over to his closet he easily grabbed his robe that hung on the back of the door and made his way out of his bedroom. Passing Es’ room he rapped his knuckles on the door and gently pushed it open so he could peek his head inside.

“Good mornin’ Buttercup!” He called happily and watched as the mound of blankets on her bed moved slightly. He grinned as he leaned on the door jam and crossed his arms across his chest. “How ‘bout some pancakes for breakfast this mornin’ huh?” He asked.

The large mound of blankets moved more and he could hear her muffled response as she moved. Just then the blankets broke apart like a volcano bursting at the top and Esme was presented to him in all her morning bed ragged glory. Jack’s eyes danced he took in her tangled and sticking up dark hair. Her eyes were bleary as she gazed around her room for him and he grinned when they landed on him. Her small fist came and rubbed at her eyes as she yawned big and wide. He couldn’t help but chuckle at her antics.

“Pancakes sound good Daddy.” She said with a grin directed at him before she climbed out of her bed quickly and rushed to the door. She grabbed her own fluffy robe and easily slipped it on before shoving him out of the bedroom and down the hall.

“Did ya have a good sleep?” Jack asked warmly as he began to pull down bowls and spoons before moving to grab all the ingredients they’d need. Esme had begun pushing one of the kitchen table chairs over the kitchen island so that she could help him mix the ingredients in the bowl.

“Yeah I dreamed about a monkey astronaut princess.” Es explained as she climbed onto the chair next to him. 

“Dreamt, dreamed isn’t a word.” Jack said unconsciously and Es tilted her head at him for a second before nodding.

“Ok.” She said and Jack smiled shaking his head softly knowing that his words went in one ear and out the other.

“Tell me more about this monkey astronaut princess.” He said kindly and Es’ face lit up. 

“Well her name was Aurora, like the northern lights Uncle Tequila told me about, and she was at first mean. She wanted to chain up all the people in her castle but then I fought her with a sword and defeated her! And when she lost I told her she shouldn’t chain up the people and she listened to me.” Esme explained her dream to him as Jack measured out the ingredients and handed them to Esme to pour into the bowl.

He nodded his head along to her story about her dream and reached out for the bag of chocolate chips and began to measure them out for her. “Can we have a lot, a lot of chips? Pppplllleeeeaaaassseeeee?” Esme asked dragging out the please in her request. Jack stood there with the bag poised over the measuring cup and smirked softly as he silently thought about it. “Oh please Daddy?” Esme cried softly. Jack smiled and tilted the bag over the measuring cup and poured more chocolate chips into the cup. Esme cheered loudly and jumped on the chair she was standing on.

When all the ingredients were poured into the bowl Jack slid the bowl away from Esme so that he could begin to stir the batter. Esme stood next to him at the kitchen island watching his actions shrewdly.

“So do you want to finally talk about what happened on Friday with the bullies?” He asked kindly as he looked over at her. Esme scrunched up her face wrinkling her nose at his words and shrugged her shoulders.

“They were just being mean.” Es said softly in a defensive voice.

“Yeah some people can be mean. But that doesn’t mean that there’s ‘nything wrong with you Buttercup.” Jack said reassuringly.

“I know Daddy. But when they’re mean it stinks. I want to do sports and play in gym.” Esme said insistently and Jack felt his heart breaking for his little girl.

“I know Buttercup, I know. But we gotta find something that won’t aggravate your asthma.” He said softly, trying not to get too upset about the situation. He knew Esme wanted to be just like the other kids in her class, but with her severe asthma she wasn’t able to play and do sports for very long. These little visits to the playground were the extent of her physical activity that wouldn’t exacerbate her asthma too badly. Usually on the walk home from the playground she wouldn’t have to take a puff of her inhaler to calm herself down but it didn’t go beyond that thankfully.

“I hate my asthma.” Esme said petulantly and crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at the table top of the kitchen island.

“I know but remember what Memaw said? We gotta work with what we got, right?” Jack asked softly and Esme stood silent before she nodded her head at his words. “But I want you to tell me if they start teasing you anymore alright? They shouldn’t be making fun of you because of that.” Jack said firmly as he stared at Esme.

“Alright Daddy. Can we call Memaw on the tablet later after breakfast?” Esme asked, effectively changing the topic. Jack laughed and nodded his head before looking down at the batter.

“So do you think it’s good to start makin’ pancakes?” He asked tilting the bowl to show Esme. She grinned and nodded her head in agreement.

———

Twenty minutes and many failed burnt pancakes later Jack was plating the last of the pancakes on the large platter for him and Esme. Turning the stove off and moving to the kitchen island he set the platter down in the center. Esme quickly climbed down from the chair and began pushing it back to the dining room table before rushing back into the kitchen to the pantry to grab the maple syrup. Jack easily reached into the fridge and grabbed the butter.

Just as he was turning back to the kitchen island he heard his cellphone ringing. He stood there just listening to it to see if he could tell whose ringtone it was. When he realized that it was work calling him on his cellphone he set the butter down and held up his index finger to Esme.

Walking quickly to the side of the living room where he kept his work briefcase he quickly fished out his cellphone and answered the call.

“Whiskey.” He answered gruffly not appreciating his time with Esme being interrupted. He turned back to look at Esme and saw that she was placing the maple syrup on the dining room table along with the butter. 

“Good morning Whiskey.” Came Champ’s happy voice over the phone.

“Champ, what can I do for ya?” Jack asked easily as he turned away from Esme for a moment to focus on the conversation. 

“We’ve got a mission for ya that you’re going to be going on starting tomorrow.” Champ said regretfully. “I know it’s last minute but something has come up in the Greenleaf case.”

“Champ, tomorrow? I can’t just leave Es.” Jack protested adamantly as he shook his head.

“We need you Whiskey. Your expertise is needed on this mission. Is there anyone that you can ask to watch over Esme while you’re away?” Champ asked imploringly. “That new community we moved you into is very safe. I'm sure one of your new neighbors would be willing to watch her.” Jack sighed softly and nodded his head.

“I’ll figure something out. Send me the details.” Jack said resignedly.

“Will do Whiskey. I’ll see you at oh eight hundred tomorrow.” Champ said easily before the call ended. 

Removing the cellphone from his ear Jack sighed tiredly and rubbed a hand over his face. He looked up and saw Esme watching him from her seat at the dinning room table. Her eyebrows were furrowed softly and Jack sighed again.

“It’ll be alright Buttercup. I promise.” He said softly sliding the cellphone back into his briefcase and walking to the kitchen. Just as he was reaching the kitchen island there came a noise from the front door. Jack frowned and turned his head to the door cautiously. 

Moving to the front door now and away from the kitchen island he listened intently for the noise again. It sounded like shuffling on the other side of the door. Reaching for the doorknob he silently unlocked the door and quickly jerked the door open.

A loud shriek sounded on the other side of the door and Jack took a moment to realize what he was looking at. Bunny stood there holding a large box in her arms with a few things poking out of the top of it. The box was large enough that it impeded her line of sight and Jack could only just make out a fuzzy ball of yarn on her winter hat over the box. Just then Bunny stepped back in her surprise and Jack saw that her foot was slipping off the top step of his porch.

Reacting immediately he lunged forward and grabbed a hold of her elbows dragging her forward towards him. Standing now almost nose to nose with the box between them Jack watched Bunny’s eyes widen comically.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude on your Sunday.” She rushed out softly. Her warm breath ghosted across his face and he smiled warmly at her.

“You didn’t. Good morning.” He said softly and watched as a pretty blush covered her cheeks. Jack could feel his heart stutter in his chest as he saw her blush and her eyelashes flutter.

“Good morning.” She says softly as a grin spreads across her face.

“BUNNY!!” Cries Esme from behind Jack and the two of them are instantly broken out of their little bubble. Jack pulls Bunny farther onto the top step as he steps back. 

“Good morning Esme, hope you’re doing alright sweetheart?” Bunny says easily to Esme who grins and nodded her head.

“What’s in the box?” Esme asked excitedly as she bounced on her toes.

“Oh right! This is for you and your Dad. Just a settling in care package for the two of you.” Bunny explained as she moved the box in her arms. Jack easily reached out and took it from her arms and began to walking back into the house.

“C’mon in Bunny.” Jack said easily over his shoulder. 

“Yeah you can stay for breakfast! We made pancakes!” Esme cheered as she grabbed onto Bunny’s hand and dragged her into the house.

“Oh no, I can’t I was just dropping off the box for you guys. I’ve gotta get to a client meeting this morning in a little bit.” Bunny explained easily as she shook her head. 

“Well thank you for the package. Are you sure we can’t send you off with some food before your meeting?” Jack asked kindly as he set the box on the kitchen island and turned back to Bunny.

“No, no the meeting’s in a restaurant. I’ll eat there. Thank you though.” Bunny said easily as she shook her hands slightly in front of her body.

“Alright, your loss. I make a pretty mean chocolate chip pancake.” Jack teased warmly and Bunny laughed softly at him. 

“I’ll have to take your words for it. Maybe another time.” Bunny suggested kindly and Jack nodded his head sharing a warm smile with her. He watched as Esme stood to the side of Bunny and eyed him and her silently. Coughing softly he picked up the platter of pancakes and walked them over to the dinning room table. “Well I’ll let you guys eat. Enjoy your Sunday. Let me know if you need anything alright?” Bunny said awkwardly and began to walk back to the front door.

“Well actually I had a question.” Jack said easily and Bunny turned back towards him nodding her head eagerly. Jack couldn’t help the smile that graced his face at her movement. “I just learned I have to go on a work trip starting tomorrow. I know it’s really short notice but do you by any chance know anyone who would be able to watch over Esme for me for a week?” He explained and then asked. 

Bunny stood there with her head tilted to the side thinking as her eyes followed Esme who moved to take her seat at the dinning room table. Jack stood in front of his seat at the table watching Bunny.

“Well there’s a bunch of teenagers in our neighborhood who normally babysit the younger kids but I don’t think any of them have done it for longer than a few hours.” Bunny began to explain and Jack shook his head.

“I’m gonna be gone for a whole dang week and they just sprung it on me.” He said agitatedly as he waved his hand in the air.

“Well why don’t I watch her for you then? I work from home for the most part and only have to go out for client meetings. I can reschedule the meetings I do have lined up this week or do them over video calls without a problem. And Esme knows me and Butter already.” Bunny suggested.

“I can’t ask that of you Bunny.” Jack said softly shaking his head.

“It’s no big deal really. I’ve watched over my little five year old nephew. I swear I’m CPR certified and know all the child safety guidelines. And besides you need someone to watch her for tomorrow.” Bunny said reassuringly and Jack smiled softly at her nonstop chatter. “But if you don’t me to watch her-“

“No, no. I just don’t want to burden you and make you rearrange your week because my job doesn’t know how to give ample notice.” Jack explained easily shaking his head.

“It’s not burden. I love to watch Esme. It’ll be fun.” Bunny said shrugging her shoulders as she grinned over at Esme.

“You say that now.” Jack grumbled softly and he watched delighted as Bunny burst into shocked happy laughter after hearing him.

“It’ll be fine I promise.” Bunny reassured. Jack nodded and gestured to the front door.

“Okay, let me walk you out so you’re not late.” He said softly and Bunny nodded happily with a smile on her lips. “I’ll get everything ready for her for a week so you guys don’t have to come back to the house for anything. But I’ll also leave you a spare key just in case.” Jack said as he walked Bunny to the front door.

“Alright, sounds good to me. Do you want me to just pick her up from the bus stop after school so you get as much time with her as possible before you leave? Just drop her stuff off with me after you put her on the bus?” Bunny suggested. Jack opened the door and leaned against it smiling at Bunny.

“That sounds like a plan.” Jack responded smiling. Bunny nodded and walked out of the house.

“Alright I’ll see you later then.” Bunny said with a wave and she turned and jogged down the steps of his house. Jack silently watched as Bunny walked down the sidewalk towards her house and he couldn’t stop the smile from forming on his face. 


	8. Finding Love In Legacy Oaks pt. 4.5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Esme talk about Bunny babysitting. And Esme might be catching on to more than the adults think she is.

Jack shut the front door and turned back to see Esme watching him from her seat at the dining room table. He could see the little gears in her brain turning as she stared at him. He walked over to the table and took a seat in his chair smiling softly at her.

“Do you like Bunny? You act weird around her.” Esme said curiously with a tilt of her head. Jack jolted at her question and quickly tried to cover it. 

“Of course I like Bunny. She’s a nice lady.” Jack said dismissively as he began to dish out the pancakes. Jack saw out of the side of his eyes that Esme was still watching him with narrowed eyes. 

“You’re being weird.” Esme said, confused before she shook her head and began to eat her pancakes. 

“Oh I’m being weird huh? So is this weird?” Jack asked as he looked up at her from his plate with his eyes crossed, cheeks puffed out and lips pursed. Esme giggled loudly when she saw his face.

“Daddy!” She cried out now laughing hysterically as he began to tilt his head from side to side. When he stopped she giggled softly and shook her head at him. “You are SO weird.” She said to him and he smiled widely at her before cutting into his pancakes.

“So Bunny is going to be watching you for the week that I have to go away for a business trip.” Jack said as he put a piece of pancake in his mouth and began to chew. “You’re going to need to be on your best behavior, got it?” Jack warned her softly as he pointed his fork at from across the table.

“I know Daddy. I like Bunny and I like her dog Butter.” Esme said matter of factly as she took a bite of her own pancakes.

“Okay, but you have to listen to what Bunny says. She’s in charge so don’t go giving her a hard time. She’s doing Daddy a favor by watching you.” Jack said firmly as he stared at Esme.

“I know Daddy.” Esme said exasperatedly as she rolled her eyes at him.

———

After breakfast was done Jack loaded up the dishwasher and set it to clean the dishes before he turned back around to see Esme had already pushed the chair back up against the kitchen island. She was just climbing up onto it again when Jack stepped closer and pulled the box that Bunny had left over to the two of them.

Peering inside Jack smiled softly at all of the things that were in it. He pulled a colorful flowering plant and set it gently in the middle of the kitchen island. He then pulled out a medium sized dark blue teddy bear that had a plastic sleeve on the front of it.

“Oh that’s a worry bear! My friend Anna from the old neighborhood had one.” Esme cried as she reached for the bear and took it gently from his hands.

“What’s a worry bear?” Jack asked confused as his eyebrows furrowed softly as he gazed at the bear Esme was hugging to her front.

“Anna said anytime she was really upset about something she would write it on the worry card and her mom would read it. Then they would talk.” Esme said excitedly. Jack leaned against the island and looked over at Esme who was cuddling the bear close to her body.

“That’s a really good idea. Do you wanna try to do that when you get upset about things?” Jack asked softly and watched as Esme nodded her head eagerly. “Okay, we can definitely try that.”

Jack peered back down into the box and pulled out a red and white first aid kit. He opened it up and peered inside seeing all the essentials that were needed for first aid. He turned and quickly stowed it away under the kitchen sink knowing it’d come in handy there since he already had one stocked in the bathroom under the sink.

Just then Esme squealed and danced on the chair as she reached inside of it and pulled a Wonder Woman lunch box. Jack saw there was a sticky note taped to it and he pulled it off and read the pretty cursive handwriting.

“To a very super and brave little girl. Don’t let the bullies get you down.” Jack read to Esme and she squealed again with a large grin plastered on her face. Silently watching his little girl Jack couldn’t help but think that Bunny was going to be an excellent babysitter for his little girl. If she was able to lift her spirits with these heartwarming thoughtful gifts he couldn’t imagine what a week of the two of them spending together would do for Esme.

Looking back into the box Jack spotted another box that was chocolatey brown color with white lines dotted around it. Pulling the box out Jack slid the larger box onto the floor and then opened the lid on the smaller box. Inside was an assortment of ice cream fixings and three blu rays. Esme squealed again and pointed to the lid of the box where Jack saw the lettering ‘Just add ice cream’ scrawled in sparkly cursive handwriting.

“Looks like I know how we’re going to be spending our evening.” Jack said with a grin. Esme danced in her spot and bounced a little in excitement.

“Daddy, how come Bunny makes us boxes like this?” Esme asked curiously as she placed her hands on the island and peered into the ice cream box.

“You’ll have to ask her Buttercup. You’re gonna have a whole week with her to find out.” He said honestly. He knew Bunny was very generous with her time and effort but while he had an inkling as to why the woman created these care packages he’d rather have Esme ask the woman to find out her answer. Sliding the lid back onto the box of ice cream fixings he turned back to Esme. “Alright kiddo, go gather up enough clothes to last you a whole week okay? We gotta get you packed up for Bunny.” Jack said as he began to put away the box by the fridge.

“Okay, Daddy.” Esme said excitedly as she grabbed her Worry Bear and ran to her room.

“I’ll come and check on what you picked out in a little bit. Don’t forget socks and underwear!” Jack called out to her before he too began to move to his own bedroom to start packing for her work trip. Pulling out a large black duffel bag he began to pack his regular blue jeans and different colored button up shirts that he folded just right so that they wouldn’t crease. Once the clothes were packed properly he turned back to his closet and spotted his trusty whip and packed that as well. He could never be too careful while traveling to the main facility nearby.

Just as Jack was turning back to the closet he spotted his black Stetson hanging from the corner of his large bureau. Sighing softly he grabbed it from it’s place and slid his fingers across the brim of the hat. It had been quite awhile since he had gone on a work trip. Ever since before the death of Maria matter of fact. Sighing softly again he grabbed the handles of the duffel bag and placed it down against the wall next to his closet and set the Stetson on top of it. He knew he would have to get back into the game but he had hoped that it wouldn’t be this soon.

“Daddy I’m done!” Called Esme from her room.

“Alright I’ll be right there.” Jack called out to her and shook his head softly before turning to his dresser to get dressed and then go check on Esme.


	9. Finding Love In Legacy Oaks pt. 5

“Now remember Bunny will be the one to pick you up from the bus stop after school.” Jack said to Esme as the bus came to a stop at the corner.

“Okay Daddy. Do you think she’ll bring Butter? And we could go to the park before doing homework?” Esme asked as she bounced next to him on the sidewalk. Her bright purple backpack with the princess on it bounced on her back and jingled as all of her things inside moved about. The little fuzzy keychain toy that she had to have about a month ago moving with her excited bouncing. Jack smiled softly as he watched her, he was going to miss her.

“I don’t know but I can put in a good word for ya.” Jack said with a shrug of his shoulders. The other children were boarding the school bus and Jack watched as Esme started following them onto the bus. “Es wait don’t I get a hug before I leave for a week?” he asked incredulously. He knelt down on the sidewalk and held his arms open. Esme whirled around at his words and made a mad dash for him as her arms opened up as well and he enveloped her in his hold. Pulling her tight to him he held her close and buried his nose in her hair taking in a deep breath pulling her scent in and trying to memorize it for the week. “I love ya Buttercup. Be good for Bunny and I’ll be home in a week.” he said softly to her.

“Love you lots like jelly tots.” Esme said softly in Jack’s ear and he shivered as his heart seemed to grow a couple of sizes in his chest. He was certainly going to miss her this week.

“Love you lots like jelly tots.” Jack said back and gave her another tight squeeze before he let her go and watched her run up the stairs of the bus. His eyes followed her silently as she made her way down the aisle of the bus and took a window seat and looked out at him waving happily. Jack waved back and the bus slowly pulled away from the curb and continued on to the next bus stop in the community.

Jack stood there watching the bus until it turned the corner and it was no longer in sight. He nodded his head to the other parents as he turned and began walking back to his house. He needed to grab all of Esme’s things to bring them over to Bunny’s before he left on his mission.

It didn’t take Jack long to grab the two sparkly pink and purple rolling luggage bags and the navy blue and white striped tote bag that Esme had packed. He felt a little silly walking along the sidewalk dragging both rolling bags and the tote hanging on his shoulder. But he knew Esme had packed these especially for her week stay with Bunny, and she had expressly told him that he had to bring all of them to Bunny’s house for her.

Coming up to Bunny’s house Jack couldn’t help but stop in the entrance way of her front white picket fence. The fence had a double gate and he stopped to open it so that he could walk through it with all the luggage. He looked up from the gate and stared at the pretty white two story with dark colored shutters. The front yard had two medium sized flowering trees that had pretty white flowers that were starting to bud on their branches and the grass was mowed perfectly. The front hedges were all cut sharp and nicely in front of her windows and he spied two mini fir trees in black metal pots on the front steps. Walking up the front walk Jack couldn’t help but admire the house.

The windows had frosting on the bottom of the glass and he could see stamped snowflakes decorating the glass half way up the window. There were also string lights lining the windowsills in a cluster and he couldn’t help but smile at her holiday decorating that she hadn’t taken down yet. Along with the light and frosting there was a ginormous poinsettia wreath hanging on the dark black door. Obviously Bunny was big into decorating for the holidays.

The front door opened widely as he was about halfway up the walk and he saw Bunny grinning as she leaned against the door jam with her arms crossed. She was wearing an over large sweater again a deep navy blue color and the left shoulder was hanging down on her arm and he could see a white wide strap that was probably a tank top she wore underneath. She wore tan pants that flared out at the bottom and was barefoot. Jack couldn’t help but let his eyes travel up and down her body as she got comfortable against the door jam with one of her legs bending upwards to rest her foot against the back of her calf. She was effortlessly gorgeous and Jack felt his heart begin to race and his palms began to sweat around the luggage handles.

Her hair was tied back in a loose messy bunny and he could see a black pen stuck in the bun holding it up. He never understood how women were able to do that and remembered the phase Esme went through not long ago when she had wanted to tie her hair up and around engraved chopsticks. He wondered idly if he could ask her to teach him how to do it so that he could do it for Esme.

Her corgi Butter was standing at her feet watching him with curious eyes. The sleek looking dog was standing protectively in front of her legs and Jack could see the large satellite like ears were twitching back and forth as Jack continued to walk up towards them. It seemed that he passed the inspection because suddenly the little dog began to wiggle his back end rapidly and excitedly before he began pouncing on his front legs with his tongue hanging out.

“Geeze Butter what is with you and being so easily impressed?” Bunny asked in a teasing tone and Jack looked up to see her grinning widely at him.

“So I passed the inspection huh?” Jack asked with his own grin up at Bunny. She grinned sheepishly and shrugged her left shoulder making her sweater fall down lower on her arm.

“He’s only protective around certain people I guess?” Bunny explained before her eyes darted down to the luggage he was holding.

“Well I read somewhere that dogs can tell people’s character just by meeting them.” Jack explained as he thought back to that one mission of the AKC dog show where the terrorist group known as the Vapers were planning on flushing the stadium with poisonous gas. He had to learn quite a bit about the Pitbull dog breed since he was undercover as a contestant.

“You look very cute with your sparkly luggage Jack.” Bunny teased with a grin that lit up her face. Jack felt his heart rate increase even more at the image she made. Her eyes sparkled brightly as they danced from his face down to the tote and rolling luggage he held behind him. Rolling his eyes he scoffed softly and Bunny laughed happily before she moved back to allow him entry.

“You’re funny.” He grumbled and Bunny laughed again as he passed her. Butter trotted into the house with his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

Jack stood not far from the front door and waited for Bunny’s instructions. He watched as she closed her front door and turned around to face him with a warm smile. She really truly was a pretty woman, her face radiating warmth up to him as she turned her face to him. Jack felt himself easily being drawn into her space as he leaned forward towards her.

“So I’m going to need your phone number.” Bunny was saying to him and Jack realized that he hadn’t been paying attention to what she had been saying. 

And at her words Jack felt his face flush brightly, she wanted his number. He let go of the luggage he was still holding in his hands and rubbed his hands against his blue jean clad thighs. She wanted his number. Wasn’t he supposed to be the one to initiate getting her number? Wasn’t how this worked? Or was he so out of the dating game for so long that women now were bolder and asked for the man’s number? Questions rushed through his head as he stared at her dumbly not saying anything.

“Jack?” She asked then confused as she tilted her head to the side watching him. “I need your number in case anything god forbid happens while Esme is here?” She said a little uncertainly.

“Oh right!” He said coming back to himself. She wanted it because Esme was going to be with her. How could he have forgotten his reason for coming here so easily? Jack quickly jumped in action sliding his hand into his back pocket and pulling out his cellphone. He could see Bunny, out of the corner of his eye, smiling softly at him as she as snagged his phone and easily recorded her number in there before handing him her own cellphone with a contact already pulled up. He quickly filled in his information before they exchanged their phones. Bunny then passed him and walked further into her home.

He looked around himself as he started to follow after her further into the house. There was only a tiny front entry where he spotted a large metal crate that held quite a few pairs of shoes. There was a tiny end table across from the crate against the opposite wall and a few brightly colored decorations and a mosaic bowl that held loose change, a pretty broach and two pairs of keys with different keys on the key rings. A mirror with a dark wooden frame hung on the gray blue painted wall with white paneling that traveled up half the wall.

As he moved further into the house the layout seemed to branch out from a main hallway. One one side was an elegant dining room that held what looked like an oak medium sized narrow table with a Christmas themed runner on it and tall slender candles in silver candle holders with a pretty poinsettia centerpiece. To the other side was a living room that had a fireplace along the far wall, a medium sized flat screen tv and two loveseats and a long couch in a gray color with multiple different words in print and cursive lettering. Jack didn’t get a good look at what the words were but both rooms followed the same gray blue and white color scheme as the front entry.

The next two rooms were the kitchen which was a bright cheery yellow color with lots of natural light coming in on one side and on the other what looked like an office that had two glass French doors that was done in light wood and hunter green color. Both of the doors were pushed wide open and he could see inside the large desk and the computer that sat humming on top of it.

From where he stood in the middle of the long hallway he could see all the way to the back of the house and saw a glass paned door that had pretty colored glass in it that cast colorful shadows along the wood floors down the hall back towards him. There was a staircase that sat on one side of the hallway and he could three other doors along the hallway that were all closed.

Turning towards the kitchen he spotted Bunny standing at the opened fridge gazing inside of it. The fridge door had multiple different magnets strapped to it from different states that he assumed she had been to. There was a mini dry erase board with a few different colored markers stuck to the door around it. The words ‘client meeting by video at 12pm’ were written on it in cursive handwriting.

“I just want to thank you so much for doing this for me. I know we just moved in and you don’t know us very well but you’re being so incredibly kind.” He begins to say gratefully as he moves into the kitchen and stands at the island in the middle of the room.

“Oh don’t even mention it Jack. It’s no big deal. I like Esme, she’s a very sweet little girl. We’re gonna have fun together.” Bunny said as she turned around with two water bottles in her hands. She handed one to him across the island and he gratefully took it from her. Jack nodded his head to her in thanks.

“Even so you didn’t have to do this and I’m so grateful for you helping me.” He said earnestly and watched as Bunny nodded her head at him and smiled warmly.

“You’re welcome Jack.” She said kindly before taking a swig of her water.

“So I have to tell you Esme has severe asthma.” Jack began to explain as he pulled the blue and white striped tote from his shoulder and set it on the island. He began pulling out the medication that she had in case her asthma acted up and the doctor’s paperwork. He spread it out on the table and watched as Bunny’s eyes widened slightly. “I know it seems like a lot-“ he began to explain, he was suddenly worried that Bunny now wanted to back out of watching Esme.

“Hey, easy Jack.” She said softly as her hand came to rest on his forearm gently. “Just explain to me what it is I need to do in case she has an asthma attack and what signs to look out for.” She said calmly as she stared up into his eyes. Jack sighed out softly and began to relax at her words.

He easily began to explain to her the procedure of what she needed to do in case Esme started to have an asthma attack. He showed her the diagram he brought along for her and then showed her how to help Esme administer the inhaler if she couldn’t do it herself. Bunny watched and listened with rapt attention before she turned to the drawer in her island and pulled out a notepad and pen and began jotting down notes of what he was explaining to her.

Once Jack saw her pull out her notepad he felt his heart thud heavily in his chest. He had been so worried over nothing. Bunny was showing how much she cared about his little girl by taking notes on her medical condition and she hadn’t even known them for more than a month. He felt relief consume his body as he knew that Bunny would do everything she possibly could to protect and care for his daughter.

When his explanation of the signs that she should look out for came to a close Bunny began to ask questions that he hadn’t even thought of to explain to her. And he was once again so grateful for this woman. He felt the need to wrap her in his arms and hug her tightly to show her how much all of this meant to him. But he held back, he didn’t want to come off as too strong.

Finally as all of the explanation was complete and her questions were answered Bunny turned to from her notepad with a bright happy grin. Her eyes twinkled and danced as they roamed around his face.

“Ok so now onto the fun questions.” Bunny said eagerly as she rubbed her hands together with the pen held in her fingers still. Jack tilted his head at her confused a little bit at her words. A grin spread across her face and she leaned in close to him and her eyes danced with mischief. “So tell me Jack, are you a strict dad or a bend the rules a little bit dad?” She asked in a soft teasing tone. Jack grinned at her question and began to chuckle softly.

“Some of the rules can be bent a little.” He acquiesced as he shrugged his shoulders. Bunny nodded her head and her grin spread wider on her face.

“When’s bedtime?” Bunny asked as she began to doodle on her notepad.

“Eight during the week, nine on Saturday and eight on Sunday. I’ve found that that’s the latest she can stay up without being a gremlin the next day.” Jack answered easily and Bunny nodded her head as she wrote down the bedtimes on her notepad and she chuckled softly.

“Any foods that I should avoid making her while she’s here?” She asked curiously before she brought her pen up to her lips and bit down on it with her teeth. Jack’s eyes focused on her mouth and his brain seemed to short circuit as he watched her idly wiggle the pen in between her lips. She didn’t even seem to know that she was doing it and what it was doing to him. He shook his head slightly and focused back on her eyes. Eyes were a safe place to look.

“Uh, she doesn’t like corn. And she’ll eat you out of Mac n’ cheese if you let her.” Jack said easily and Bunny laughed softly.

“Girl after my own heart.” She said softly and Jack smiled at her.

“She’s not that picky of an eater but if she gets too excited before dinner she’s hard to get settled for dinner.” Jack explained.

“Any allergies I should know about? Any food that will upset her stomach? Does she like spicy food?” Bunny began to ask rapidly and Jack smiled softly before he reached out and placed a hand on her forearm.

“She’ll let you know if she doesn’t like something. But no allergies, too much cheese will give her a stomach ache, and she likes spicy food.” He said with a warm smile. Bunny was so concerned to make this as seamless as possible for Esme it just warmed his heart.

“Ok sounds good. Is that everything I need to know?” Bunny asked as she looked over to him.

“Yeah I think so. Oh this the first time in two years that we have been away from each other so she might get upset.” Jack explained softly and Bunny nodded her head in understanding.

“Okay, I’ll be prepared in case she wakes up tonight. Or during the week.” Bunny said contemplatively. Jack felt as if he should say something as concern filled him that he had to leave Esme for a week. “Do you want to set up a time for video calls? I know being away from your little one after not being away from each other can be hard for both of you.” Bunny suggested as she rested her chin in her palm that held the pen.

“You’d be okay with that?” He asked softly and watched as she nodded her head eagerly standing tall once more.

“Of course Jack.” She said as if it was a no brainer.

“I’d really appreciate it.” He said nodding his head.

“Alright you text me when a time is good for you.” She said with a shrug of her shoulders. Jack nodded his head as his eyes glanced over at the clock on her stove.

“I have to get going or I’m going to be late. Oh, before I forget she did ask this morning if you could bring Butter to the bus stop and then go to the park before homework.” He said softly as he pointed his index finger up in the air as he remembered what Esme requested this morning. Bunny nodded and pushed off from the kitchen island holding her arm out to him leading him towards the front door. Jack smiled softly as he followed Bunny and took one last look at Butter who was snoozing in his dog bed in the kitchen.

Bunny held the door open for him and leaned against the door watching him silently. He could see her eyes twinkling at him and feel the excitement radiating off her. “I’m gonna come back to a completely spoiled little girl aren’t I?” Jack asked softly and Bunny burst out into laughter.

“No not completely spoiled. I haven’t babysat a little girl before so it’ll be fun to get to do all the girly things with her.” Bunny said excited. Jack smiled softly and began to step out of the front door. He leaned into Bunny’s space as he was passing her and saw her cheeks flush softly.

“Don’t let her run right over you. She knows how to get her way.” He warned softly and Bunny grinned before shrugging her shoulders.

“Eh I know how to get to kids.” Bunny said confidently and Jack chuckles softly.

“You sure about that?” He challenged quietly and Bunny flushed even darker.

“P-pretty sure.” Bunny stuttered softly and Jack grinned confidently.

“I’ll see you in a week.” He said softly.

“Travel safe.” Bunny responded and Jack turned to walk down the front steps.

He was smiling as he began the trek back to his house as his mind replayed the interaction with Bunny. He looked down at the ground as a warmth filled him that he hadn’t felt in a very long time.

“Morning Jack!” Came a high pitched voice that shocked him out of his thoughts. Looking up he spotted Cynthia once again in an obnoxiously bright colored workout outfit with a high ponytail.

“Morning Cynthia.” Jack responded in a deadpanned voice. He looked straight into her face and then darted his eyes over to his house which was only a few feet away. “Listen Cynthia-“ he began to say when she cut him off.

“So I was on my morning run and I was thinking. We haven’t really had time to get to know each other yet.” She said stepping closer to him and letting one hand slowly glide down his bicep to his elbow. She stepped into his space and Jack took a step back not wanting to be too close to her. “Maybe one night we can go get dinner together and get to know each-“ she began to say and Jack cut her off.

“Listen Cynthia I have to get going for work. Maybe another time alright?” He said quickly and easily sidestepped her before walking towards his house not bothering to look back. When would this woman get the hint that he wasn’t interested in her at all.? In fact a certain other neighbor instantly filled his head. He smiled as he thought of Bunny and quickly locked up the house and got into his already packed car.


	10. Finding Love In Legacy Oaks pt. 5.5

Jack dumped his duffel bag down on the floor next to his hotel bed and sat down with a huff. He sat there staring at the carpeted floor for a few moments in silence trying to get his thoughts to calm down. Ever since boarding the Statesman jet he hadn’t been able to curb his obsessive thoughts that Esme would have a hard time being with Bunny. 

He was so lost in his thoughts about Esme that he didn’t hear the hotel door open and someone else entered the room. It wasn’t until the bed next to him dipped that he was alerted to the other person in the room. Turning his head he spotted Tequila sitting next to him.

“You okay Whiskey?” Tequila asked softly as he sat next to his senior agent. The two of them sat there together in silence for another moment before Jack spoke up.

“I think I should be behind the scenes on this mission. I’m too distracted with worrying about Esme being without me.” Jack said quietly and Tequila nodded along to his words.

“Alright, what’s it been two years since you’ve been on a mission?” Tequila asked curiously as he tilted his head to the side.

“Yeah, two years since Maria. We’ve been together ever since.” Jack said solemnly. Tequila nodded in understanding as he still sat next to Jack.

"I told Champ that somethin' easy would be best to slowly ease ya back into the job. Thankfully he listened to me, this mission is only gonna be intel but it's gotta be spread out over the week. That's how long the event is gonna be." Tequila explained easily as he took off his Stetson and tossed it gently onto the other bed in the room. Jack nodded along to Tequila's words understanding that he would be the eyes while Tequila did the work. 

“Ok let me send Bunny a text that I’m here and that I’ll let her know when we’re done for the day so that we can set up a video call.” Jack advised as he stood from the bed. “You think we’ll be done in time for me to call them later tonight before bedtime?” Jack asked curiously and Tequila nodded his head.

“All the events are going to be early in the evening and they’ll end way before seven each night. Apparently they don’t know how to party here.” Tequila said with a grin and a chuckle. “Do you want to text her because of Esme or because it’s your cute neighbor?”

Jack whirled around with a glare directed at Tequila who was grinning at him with a teasing sparkle in his eyes. Jack instantly regretted telling Tequila about Bunny, the younger man hadn’t been able to stop talking about the woman and had taken to teasing him about her.

“I regret telling you about her at all.” Jack said while rolling his eyes.

“Well I’m glad you’re starting to get back out there.” Tequila said happily.

“No, no that’s not what this is. She’s just really sweet and gorgeous and she’s watched Esme for me. Doin’ me a huge favor. That’s all it is.” Jack said waving his hands in front of himself. He huffed out a breath as Tequila looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Ya sure ‘bout that?” Tequila asked curiously. Jack shook his head and turned back to the balcony and stepped out.

Was that all this really was? Jack wondered quietly as he leaned against the balcony railing. Was he really starting to like Bunny? He had only really known her for about a month now. Was that long enough for him to develop feelings for her other than friendship? Was it too soon for him to be over Maria? Did he really know Bunny enough? Oh god, he left Esme with a woman that he knew for a month.

Jack suddenly felt panic overtake his body as his mind turned to Esme he left her with someone that they only knew for a month. Was he insane? Jack looked down at his phone and felt a pit grow in his stomach. How could he trust someone with Esme after only knowing them for a month? 

Even if Bunny was a sweetheart and she had shown that she cares deeply for their neighbors. But what did he really truly know about her? Jack took a deep breath to calm himself down. His mind started to list off the things that he did know about her.

She lived alone, she was graphic designer and worked from home, she took Mr. Quinten to all his doctor appointments no matter what was going on with her life, she did grocery runs for the other elderly couples on the block, and she had stepped up to help Esme when she was being bullied. In fact all of those things that he knew about her spoke more about her than anything else that he could know about her. It showed him what type of person she was, and he could see that she was a caring, generous, and kind woman who looked out for others.

Taking another deep breath he blew it out slowly and turned towards his phone where he pulled up a text conversation for Bunny. He smiled when he saw the little emojis next to her contact name that she had put in there. There was a star and a unicorn on either side of her name. He chuckled softly and began to type.

_ Made it here safely. How’s Esme? _ Jack didn’t have to wait very long for a response as he saw the three little dots begin to dance on the bottom of the screen.

_ She’s doing fine. On our way to the park before homework. _ Came the response with a picture attached of the back of Esme’s body as she held onto Butter’s leash and walked ahead of Bunny. 

Jack smiled softly at the picture and began to type another message out to Bunny.

_ I wanted to thank you again for doing this. It’s a huge favor that I don’t think I could ever repay you for. _ Jack stared at the dancing dots again before her message came through.

_ Jack. I am more than happy to watch Esme for you. It’s no trouble at all. I’m here for you guys, anytime. _

Jack stared at the message for a few moments focusing on the words that she was there for them. Jack felt his chest tighten at the kindness this woman was showing him. It had been a long time since someone had shown him that type of kindness. He promised himself that he would repay her in some way or at least try his hardest to.

_ Alright, I’ll text you in a few hours to video call. Is that ok? _

_ That’s perfectly fine. I’ll make sure we’re ready. _

Jack walked back into the hotel room and saw Tequila smirking softly at him. Jack shook his head and rolled his eyes at the younger man.

“Not a word.” Jack threatened softly and Tequila chuckled at his words.

“I didn’t say anything.” Tequila exclaims as he raises his hands in mock surrender. Jack scoffs at him and walks over to the small table that had their Statesman laptop on it already opened.

“Alright let’s go over the plan tonight.” Jack said wanting to get down to business before Tequila could tease him anymore about Bunny.

———

“Well no, our profits have doubled ever since Mrs. Scarborough lent her resources to us. We were in dire straits before she came along.” Said the glamorously dressed woman standing in front of Tequila. 

Jack surveyed the image on his screen that showed what Tequila saw in his glasses. He turned to look at the second laptop which showed all the video cameras in the banquet hall. He could easily see Tequila leaning up against the bar next to the woman and her husband as they talked. Tequila had been gathering information on this Mrs. Scarborough for the entire night and finally they had gotten to their last couple for the night.

Mrs. Scarborough was a mysterious entity that had been evading the Statesman for months now. The only information that they had managed to get on her was that she dealt with military grade weapons and used the money that she obtained from those sales to help lower level crime lords.

This mission would hopefully gather the information that Statesman needed to bring in Mrs. Scarborough. Jack turned back to the laptop screen that held Tequila’s view as he was wrapping up the conversation.

“So do you think Mrs. Scarborough would be willing to meet with me?” Tequila asked curiously as he shifted in his spot at the bar.

“I could definitely ask her for you. Let her know that you’re looking to set up a meeting with her. Do you have a card?” The woman asked pleasantly with a dazzling smile sent Tequila’s way as her hand gently danced up his forearm. Jack was immediately reminded of Cynthia and he flinched backwards in his seat. Scowling softly at the screen Jack watched as Tequila fed into it and his eyes narrowed further. 

Ever since Maria had come into his life he hadn’t been able to make himself go through with flirting while on mission, it felt too much like a betrayal to her. So he had spoken with Champ and they had worked out that he would be placed on certain types of missions and promoted to senior agent so that he would be used more for the combat side of things.

But that had all come to screeching halt once Maria was killed. Jack sighed softly and placed his fingers at his lips thinking back to the last time he had seen Maria. She had been so bubbly and sweet to him wishing him a good mission and a safe trip home. Esme had even given a tight hug and that ever familiar jelly tots phrase. Just then Tequila’s words filtered in through his ears pulling him from his thoughts.

“Yes I do. Here, please pass this along to Mrs. Scarborough if you would for me.” Tequila said handing over a card with a Statesman burner phone number on it and a designated email account that was being monitored by the agents back at HQ. 

Jack watched as Tequila said goodbye to the woman and her husband and easily blended in with the crowd before exiting the hall. “Alright I think we got everything we could tonight. I’m on my way back.” Tequila said just loud enough for Jack to hear.

“Alright sounds good I’m going to send off what we got tonight to HQ and then call Esme.” Jack responded easily as his fingers began to type at the keyboard.

“Sounds good.” Tequila said. Jack continued to type away at the laptop keyboard sending off all the information to HQ without any problem.

Once that was done he turned to his cellphone and pulled up the text conversation with Bunny. Quickly typing a text out to her he wondered if it was too late and if Esme had already gone to bed.

_ Is it alright to video call now? _

_ Sure thing, I’ll have Es call ya. _ Came the quick response and Jack wondered if Bunny had made sure that her phone was close by just for this reason. He felt his heart thud in chest once again over the kindness and thoughtfulness of this woman.

Just then the jingle of an incoming video call began playing on his phone and he looked down to see that Bunny’s contact was calling him. Quickly pressing the green button he answered the call. What he was expecting he didn’t know but when the call connected and he saw Esme’s sparkling brown eyes staring at him behind a green goopy face and a dark headband holding back her long hair he flinched back.

“Oh my god! What did you get into?!” Jack cried worriedly. He turned his head slightly when he heard the hotel room door open and saw Tequila was walking in alright slipping his cufflinks off. Turning back to the phone Jack watched as another face with the same green goopy mess on it came onto the screen. 

“It’s nothing bad, it’s just a face mask. Perfectly fine and safe I swear. We’re doing a little girl spa night.” Came Bunny’s voice over the phone and Jack looked into her eyes concerned. He felt Tequila move behind him and peered over his shoulder.

“Oh yeah those are always fun. Your first one Es?” Tequila asked happily. Suddenly a shriek ran out and Bunny quickly left the screen of the phone as Esme laughed delightedly as she turned and watched Bunny leave the area.

“Hi Uncle Tequila! I don’t think Bunny wants you to see her in her avocado face mask.” Esme teased happily as she giggled. Jack took a moment to listen to Esme and then something clicked in his head.

“Oh and I can?” Jack asked suddenly, feeling as if Bunny thought higher of Tequila.

“Jack we’re friends of course you can see me in a face mask. I’m watching your daughter. Uncle Tequila is a literal stranger.” Came Bunny’s response off camera and Esme grinned into the phone. Jack smiled at the words feeling the warmth start to encase him at the fact that Bunny considered him her friend already.

“Bunny’s embarrassed.” Esme sang teasingly and Jack could hear Bunny grumbling in the background. Jack smiled brightly when he heard Bunny’s response and Esme teasing her. He really didn’t have anything to be worried about did he?


	11. Finding Love In Legacy Oaks pt. 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bunny babysits Esme during the week. Shenanigans ensue.

Bunny walked back into the kitchen after she shut the front door letting Jack out of the house. Stepping into the bright kitchen her eyes were immediately drawn to Butter who excitedly rolled from his back to his front in his dark brown fluffy dog bed. Bunny burst out laughing as she watched the little dog roll over too much and have to correct himself. His body twisting and turning as he tried to right himself and he let out a little yip when he finally got it right and laid upright in the bed looking up at her excitedly.

“You’re a bit of a mess aren’t you?” She asked fondly and watched as his tongue lolled out of his mouth and he began to pant softly. Bunny turned to the cabinet under the counter at the corner and the sound of nails on the floor rang out. She grabbed the dog treat jar she had stored in there and turned around to see Butter trying to run over to her hurriedly but his feet got caught up underneath him and he belly flopped on the floor and slid across to her feet where he came to a stop. Bunny chuckled softly and shook her head at him. “Such a mess.”

She then pulled out a dog biscuit and held it out in front of him. Butter obediently sat and waited as she placed the biscuit on his nose balancing it perfectly. “Wait.” she told him softly as she then stood to her full height and he didn’t move an inch. “Alright get it.” she said happily. Butter snapped his nose upward and the treat flew in the air a few inches above his nose. He twisted his face and quickly caught the treat in his mouth and Bunny clapped her hands proudly. “Very good!” she cheered proudly. Butter stomped his little feet in excitement and Bunny laughed at his antics. 

Turning from Butter she turned back to the fridge and peered inside of it surveying to see what she had grocery wise for dinner for her and Esme. Spotting the thawing chicken she had in the fridge she smiled and turned to walk to her pantry to check she had all the ingredients she needed for what she had planned. 

“Alright I’ve got everything I need for dinner so I’m gonna catch up on some more work before we have to go get Esme from the bus stop in a few hours. Don’t make too much trouble go it?” she called out as she walked across the hall to her office. When she turned and looked back into the kitchen Butter was already sprawled out in his bed again on his back with his tongue hanging out of his mouth once more. “Such a mess.” she chided softly with a chuckle and a shake of her head.

———

Bunny rubbed her eyes when she heard the front screen door of Mrs. Parker’s house squeaked loudly on its hinges,  _ I really need to get them some WD-40 for that door _ . Blinking rapidly she sighed softly, she had been working hours on this one client’s website trying to make the dimensions and what the client wanted work together cohesively. Unfortunately she hadn’t been able to get it to work and a headache had begun to form behind her eyes. Sighing softly she saved her progress on the website and quickly shut her laptop.

Looking down at her phone she pressed the power button she saw that she had just five more minutes before her and Butter had to start heading to the bus stop to pick up Esme. Standing from her chair she lifted her arms and stretched wide letting out a large yawn. Running her hands into her hair she scratched at her scalp and groaned lowly at the pleasure it brought her before she shook her hair out and let it fall behind her.

Grabbing her oversized navy blue knit sweater from the back of the desk chair where she had put it hours ago, she pulled it back over her head and let it fall to cover her white tank top. Then moving around her desk she grabs a knit scarf and a pair of fingerless gloves, while it was the beginning of the year it was still chilly enough to require some extra clothing for warmth. 

Walking out of the office she whistled softly for Butter as she made her way down the main hallway towards the front door. She effortlessly slipped her feet into her trusty black combat boots and zipped up the sides. When she stood tall in front of the mirror she smiled at herself before she grabbed Butter’s leash from the hook next to the door and her keys from the mosaic key bowl on her little table. She laughed as she heard the skittering of nails on the floor as she jingled the dog leash in her hand.

“So good of you to wake up sleeping beauty.” She teased softly as she bent down and held out the harness for the little dog to step into. Butter licked her chin excitedly as she finally clasped the buckle on the harness. “C’mon you wanna go get Esme at the bus stop bud?” Butter began to prance around her feet as she stood tall again and then opened the front door. 

Holding the leash loosely in her hand she turned and quickly locked the door before skipping down the front steps. Butter quickly tried to dart ahead of her but was jerked back by the leash and Bunny burst out in laughter as the little dog tumbled backwards clumsily. Shaking her head at him she tried to calm her laughter.

“When are you gonna learn Butter? The leash doesn’t retract buddy.” She said softly to the little dog still shaking her head at him. He yipped at her and she grinned at his response. “C’mon we can’t be late for Esme.”

Walking down the block Bunny silently looked around her neighborhood and admired how quaint it looked. The trees were slowly losing the frost that had swept in last month and looked as if they were finally thawing out. She knew next month the trees should start budding as they got ready for spring to arrive. The flowers would soon need to be planned out for when the neighborhood would help with planting them. Hopefully Sarah would have some ideas that they could bounce off each other.

Bunny waved at Mrs. Carter as she passed in her Volkswagen Golf on her way home after work. The walk to the corner bus stop wasn’t very long and as Bunny came to a stop on the sidewalk Butter looked back at her confused as to why she stopped when normally they would walk all the way to the dog park so that he could get his exercise in. 

“We gotta wait for Esme bud. I told you this.” Bunny said easily. Just then she heard the loud squeaky brakes of the school bus as that bus made the turn into the neighborhood. Bunny smiled and waved her hand at the bus driver as he pulled to the curb and opened the door waiting for the kids to pile out.

There were the older two girls that Bunny had seen last time she saw Esme at the bus stop walk off the bus and then Esme appeared at the top of the bus stairs. Bunny watched as the little girl tilt her head at her for a second before a bright smile spread across her face as she remembered that she’d be staying with Bunny for the week.

“Bunny!” Cried Esme happily before she bounced down the stairs to the pavement.

“Hey Esme!” Bunny called out happily and Butter began jumping around excitedly as he barked catching onto the little girl’s happiness easily. Bunny watched fondly as the little girl kneeled down and began petting Butter and hugged him around his neck softly. “So I was told you put in a request to go visit the playground before doing homework and I am here to make that request a reality.” Bunny explained easily.

“Really?!” Esme cheered excitedly as she quickly stood from the pavement.

“Yeah I gotta take Butter for a walk anyway. Would you like to go to the big playground or the little one?” Bunny asked, smiling down at Esme. “The big playground is closer and usually more busy now but if you’re up for a little bit of a longer walk there’s a smaller playground that not a lot of kids go to.” Bunny explains as they begin to start their walk down the sidewalk towards where the main part of the community is.

“Can we go to the little playground? I don’t really want to play with anyone else right now.” Esme asked.

“Of course.” Bunny answered before nodding her head.

“Can I hold Butter’s leash?” Esme asked softly as she twisted and turned unsurely while she walked next to Bunny on the sidewalk. Bunny looked down at her with a kind smile on her face.

“Of course Es. Just hold him tight and if he pulls you you have to tell him no and stop walking immediately. That’s how I taught him when he was a puppy, but when it’s someone else walking him he’ll try to pull ahead. And let me hold your backpack so you don’t have to worry about it.” Bunny explained as she looped the leash handle around Esme’s wrist and showed her how to hold the leash and took Esme’s backpack from her casually tossing it over one shoulder before they started walking again. 

Once they had crossed the main road running through the community Bunny directed Esme to walk past the big playground and then follow the winding cobblestone walkway. They were quiet for a bit just taking in the scenery before Bunny spoke up. 

“So how was school today?” Bunny asked curiously as she watched Esme focus on walking Butter properly. At her question Esme turned her head to look at Bunny with a bright smile.

“It was fun. We did a lot of arts and crafts today and not that many sports.” Esme said happily as she began to skip down the sidewalk.

“You like doing a lot of arts and crafts?” Bunny asked, wanting to gather some ideas on what she could do with Esme during the week when she got home from school.

“Oh yeah my favorite is drawing and painting but today in art class we did some sculpting with clay which was really cool!” Esme said excited as she continued to bounce.

“What about bead bracelets? Do you know how to make those?” Bunny asked curiously as she silently stored away that information about Esme.

“No, not really I know how to braid a lanyard though. I did that in summer camp one year.” Esme said distractedly as the two of them continued walking along the path. Soon the trees began to grow closer and closer along the sidewalk and Bunny smiled as she began to walk slower taking in the imagery of the trees looming over the sidewalk created. She pulled her phone out and lined up the shot of Esme walking along with Butter looking up at the trees. Smiling she snapped the shot and admired the picture before she sent it off to Jack in a text message. 

She then quickly caught up to the two of them and they finally came across the smaller playground. Esme squealed in delight and Bunny held her hand out to take the leash from her before she quickly ran towards the playground. Slowly walking Butter in the grass before the playground Bunny kept an eye on Esme as she made it to the fort and began to climb. Her eyes easily took in the way that Esme would take a moment to catch her breath when she climbed too quickly. She wondered quietly how severe her asthma was and soon ideas started to begin to form in her head on ways to help Esme through that.

Bunny walked closer to the playground and leaned against one of the poles of the swing set while she kept her eyes on Esme. She watched as the little girl happily made her way up and down the playground. When she slid down the slide for the fifth time she came racing over to where she stood and sat down on one of the swings and began to swing herself. Bunny smiled and set the backpack against the pole before she took a seat on the other swing and lazily began to swing back and forth. Butter danced around her legs and happily barked as Bunny tapped his behind with her shoe. Esme burst out into happy laughter as Butter then began chasing Bunny’s shoes as she lazily swung them in the air.

“So why did you name your dog Butter?” Esme asked as she slowed her swinging so that she wasn’t so high. Bunny let out a loud laugh at the question and turned her head to look at Esme as she stopped swinging.

“I didn’t mean to name him Butter. His first name was Butterscotch because he has the same colors as butterscotch. But when I first adopted him I brought him over to show him to my nephew.” Bunny began to explain happily as she remembered the day she adopted Butter. “My nephew Henry was only three at the time and was only talking a little bit. You know when little babies are just learning how to talk and only know how to say certain words?” 

“Yeah.” Esme responded nodding her head in thought at Bunny’s words.

“Well when I introduced Butterscotch to him Henry couldn’t say the word butterscotch so he kept saying ‘Budder’. And it was really cute so his name changed from Butterscotch to just Butter.” Bunny explained easily as she laughed softly at the memory.

Esme burst out into laughter at the story and Bunny smiled warmly at the little girl. She watched amused as the little girl bent over on her swing as she continued to laugh happily.

“That’s so silly!” Cried Esme happily as she still laughed. Bunny nodded her head at Esme’s words and watched as she slid off the swing and began to pet Butter as she giggled. “Do you like your name Butter or do you like Butterscotch?” Esme asked still giggling and Butter began to bark loudly and jumped around the little girl in excitement making her laugh harder at his antics.

“Alright kiddo, what do you say we start heading back so I can make us some yummy dinner and we tackle your homework while I cook?” Bunny suggested softly as she smiled down at Butter and Esme.

“What are we having for dinner?” Esme asked curiously as she nodded her head and picked up Butter’s leash. Bunny stood and grabbed Esme’s backpack and slung it over her back again.

“I was thinking chicken parmesan with linguine and pasta sauce. How does that sound?” Bunny asked.

“Oh! Can I help after I finish my homework?” Esme asked eagerly as she turned to face Bunny as they all began walking down the sidewalk once more.

“Yeah of course.” Bunny said nodding her head amenably. Esme cheered loudly throwing one of her fists into the air and Butter barked loudly in excitement as he jumped around not knowing what was going on. Esme and Bunny burst out laughing when Butter tripped on his own feet and did a faceplant into the sidewalk. “You alright Butter?” Bunny asked fondly as she bent down and brushed the dirt off his face and kissed his head. Butter made a happy grumbling sound and butted his head against her shin gently making Esme laugh and Bunny smile at him.

———

After the three of them had gotten back to Bunny’s house she had told Esme to go wash her hands after playing on the playground before starting her homework. Bunny had unhooked Butter’s leash and turned on the lights in the house so that they would all have enough light to be able to do what they needed to for the night. 

Bunny moves about the kitchen effortlessly pulling out pots and pans and all the ingredients she needs to be able to cook dinner. She turns on her music player on her phone and hooks it up to the bluetooth speakers that she had installed into the house about a year ago, turning down the volume to a background noise level, and she begins to start dinner. She’s already salted the pot of water she needs to boil for the linguine and set up her dredging stations for the chicken parmesan before Esme reemerges from the bathroom all clean. Bunny points to one of the stools where she set down Esme’s backpack for her.

“Are you alright to sit at the island while I cook? Or do you want to go to the dinner table over there?” Bunny asks curiously as she begins to chop up some onions and garlic to add to the pasta sauce she’s making.

“No, I can do it here.” Esme says confidently and Bunny nods as she continues to chop.

“So how much homework do you have tonight?” Bunny asks idly as she looks over to Esme as the little girl pulls out a sparkly navy blue folder with a white label that says homework on it.

“I only have vocabulary and math to do tonight. And they’re only two worksheets.” Esme says with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Ok, do you want to try and do it yourself and if you get stuck you can ask me for help? I don’t know how your dad does homework with you.” Bunny says softly at a loss for words or direction. She looks over at Esme and sees the little girl smiling brightly at her.

“I usually do it myself but Daddy helps me if I get stuck.” Esme says nodding her head as she pulls out a pencil case that is also sparkly and purple. Bunny nods and smiles warmly at the little girl.

“Ok, that works for me.” Bunny says nodding as she turns and adds the chopped onions and garlic to the large pot on her stove. Stirring the onions and garlic she smiles when the scent of them cooking together enters her nose. 

It’s not much longer before Bunny is adding the jar of pureed tomatoes to the pot with the onions and garlic and she begins to season the sauce with oregano and basil.

“Hey Bunny, I need help with my nine times table. I keep getting stuck on that one.” Esme says from behind Bunny and she turns to face the little girl. 

“Ok what are you having trouble with?” Bunny asks as she moves to lean over the kitchen island to look at the little girl’s math worksheet. 

“It’s the only times table that I have trouble remembering.” Esme said dejectedly as she huffed down at her worksheet.

“Okay, do you have a piece of scrap paper?” Bunny asked and Esme nodded handing her a piece of spare paper. Bunny easily picked up Esme’s pencil and began to write out the nine times table for the little girl. When she was done writing it out she turned it around to show Esme. “So the way that I was taught was that each number in your answer for the nine times table will add up to nine. This only works for up to nine times ten though.” Bunny began to explain to Esme. She points to show the little girl that if she adds each number in the answer it will add up to nine. “Also the first column of the answer goes from zero to nine and the second column goes the opposite nine to zero.” she explains as she shows that little girl. “Does that help you?” she asks, worried that she might have confused the little girl even more.

“It did. Thank you.” Esme says nodding quickly as she begins to fill in the answers for the worksheet. “So if I add nine to this answer I will get the next one right?”

“Yes that’s right.” Bunny says relieved that Esme seems to understand it.

“Cool thanks!” Esme said happily as she quickly finished her worksheet. “So can I help with dinner now?” Esme asked as she began to pack away her homework.

“Sure thing kiddo. Pull up a chair and I’ll let you dredge the chicken so I can fry them.” Bunny explains as she begins to set out plates on the kitchen island for the dredging. Cracking two eggs she beat them until the yolks and egg whites were mixed on one of the plates and then poured out some breadcrumbs on the other plate. Esme pulled a chair around the side of the island and climbed up onto it. Bunny easily flattened the chicken breasts and handed them to Esme to dip into the egg mixture and then into the breadcrumbs before laying them on a plate for Bunny. “So I was thinking maybe tonight we could watch some Pirates of the Caribbean? And then maybe tomorrow we could watch The Mummy?” Bunny suggested as she laid the coated chicken breasts in the pan of heated oil.

“I  _ love _ pirates!” cheered Esme excitedly. Bunny smiled over her shoulder at the little girl who was still standing on the chair at the kitchen island. “I’ve never seen The Mummy though.” Bunny gasps loudly and presses a hand to her chest in mock outrage.

“You’ve never seen The Mummy? Oh I’m gonna show you all of my favorite movies. This is gonna be fun! What kind of movies do you like? Are there certain ones that you like?” Bunny asked over her shoulder as she would periodically look over it to Esme.

“I watch a lot of Disney movies. Dad doesn’t really know anything besides Disney.” Esme said with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Oh well that’s good because I have a ton of Disney movies that we could watch. What about Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter? Do you like those too?” Bunny asked curiously.

“You love Disney too?!” Esme cried as she bounced a little bit on the chair. Bunny laughs softly as she nods her head.

“Oh yeah I grew up on Disney kiddo. I’m like a Disney guru.” Bunny said making a silly face at Esme over her shoulder making the little girl laugh.

As dinner continued to cook the two of them continued to talk about movies that they could watch together during the week that Esme would be here. Once dinner was done Bunny easily made two plates and walked them over to the coffee table in her living room and turned on the tv pulling up the Pirates movie. She quickly then got Esme situated on the floor before going back to the kitchen to grab silverware and their drinks. Before she walked back into the living room she grabbed her phone and checked to see if she had any messages from Jack. When she saw that there weren’t any she quickly headed into the living room figuring that he was still busy with work.

———

“I love that movie!” Gushed Esme as the credits rolled for the first pirates movie on the tv screen. Bunny laughed and nodded her head. The two of them had finished their dinner about halfway through the film and just wound up slouched on the floor leaning back against the couch.

Bunny sat half slouched against the couch with one knee bent in front of her and one leg splayed out. Butter laid draped between her legs with his head resting on her thigh. He was snoring loudly with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Bunny looked down at the snoozing dog and laughed softly at him.

“I do too. It’s a really good movie.” Bunny said easily as her hand came down to rest in Butter’s fur and she began to pet him softly along his body.

“So we’ll be able to do that every night? Watch one of the movies you have?” Esme asked as she rested her head back on the cushion of the couch and rolled it to look over at Bunny. Bunny turned her head and smiled warmly at the little girl. She looked so at peace with where she was right now. Her eyes were sparkling, her smile was lazy, she looked satisfied.

“Of course I’ve got tons of movies that we could watch. I’ve got The Mummy we could watch tomorrow. There’s also some girlie movies likes 13 Going On 30 or Pipi Longstocking.” Bunny told Esme. Esme nodded her head eagerly at all the movies that Bunny was naming off. “Alright how about this we watch one more pirate movie before bed and to relax we’ll do some face masks?” Bunny suggests as she nudges Butter who wakes with a start and yelp as he twists his body until he’s standing on his little legs making Esme giggle next to the two of them. Bunny shakes her head at the dog and sighs. “Always such a hot mess.”

“What’s a face mask?” Esme asked softly and Bunny whipped her head around to her with a delighted gasp and wide eyes.

———

Bunny was finishing up smearing the lumpy light green avocado mixture onto Esme’s face. Just then Bunny heard her phone chime and not moving from her spot in front of Esme she quickly finished applying the face mask to her face. 

Once done she set the bowl of the face mask down and grabbed her phone quickly. Seeing that she had a message from Jack she opened it and read it.

_ Is it alright to video call now? _

She smiled as she read the message knowing that Jack was probably anxious to talk to his little girl. He hadn’t sent her a message besides when they were on their way to the park. Typing out a message she turned to see Esme admiring herself in the mirror that Bunny had brought out.

“Hey Es, wanna video call your dad?” She asked kindly and the little girl quickly turned to her nodding her head rapidly.

“Yes can we call him?” She asked hurriedly. Bunny smiled and tapped the video call button on Jack’s contact and handed the phone to Esme. Bunny then began applying her own face mask to her face while the two of them waited for Jack to pick up, which he did after only a few rings.

“Oh my god! What did you get into?” Came Jack’s worried cry and Bunny jolted at his loud tone. She quickly walked behind Esme to look into the phone as well.

“It’s nothing bad, it’s just a face mask. Perfectly fine and safe I swear. We’re doing a little girl spa night.” Bunny said quickly and watched as Jack stare at the two of them with concern for a moment. 

Just then Bunny watched as another man peered over Jack’s shoulder and she shrieked loudly making Esme whip around to look at her as she retreated from the screen. The words from the man not resonating with Bunny at all as she quickly moved away from the phone. Esme watched her shrewdly for a moment until a bright happy grin spread across her face.

“Hi Uncle Tequila! I don’t think Bunny wants you to see her in her avocado face mask.” Esme teased happily as she giggled. Bunny shook her head at the little girl who grinned over at her from her spot on the chair.

“Oh and I can?” Came Jack’s question over the phone and Bunny rolled her eyes at Esme who giggled loudly again. Huffing out a soft breath Bunny spoke up so that Jack could hear her.

“Jack we’re friends of course you can see me in a face mask. I’m watching your daughter. Uncle Tequila is a literal stranger.” Bunny said loud enough for Jack to hear. She rolled her eyes and felt her face warm at having been seen in a face mask by someone other than Jack and Esme. Not to mention now that she thought about it she was quite embarrassed that Jack had seen her in her face mask as well.

“Bunny’s embarrassed.” Esme sang teasingly as she grinned into the phone at her father. Bunny scoffed softly at the little girl before a grin of her own spread across her face.

“Just wait until you’re a teenager little one. You’ll know all about being embarrassed.” Bunny grumbled out and Esme giggled again. Bunny shook her head and began cleaning up the bowl and other things that they had taken out to do face masks giving Esme and Jack some privacy to talk.

———

It wasn’t too long before Esme was walking into the living room from the kitchen still on the phone with Jack. She had a happy sparkle in her eye and as Bunny looked up from the book she was reading she was glad that she was able to give Esme and Jack this little reassurance that things were alright here.

“Hey Bunny, Daddy wants to talk to ya before he hangs up.” Esme said as she let out a big yawn.

“Alright, just give a minute and I’ll help you wash of your face mask. Did you say goodnight to him?” Bunny instructed warmly.

“Yeah. He just wants t’say goodnight to you.” Esme said with a bright smile and Bunny instantly felt her cheeks warm at the thought. Taking the phone from Esme she nodded her head to the little to go down the hallway.

“Meet ya in the bathroom?” She suggested lightly and Esme nodded before walking away down the hallway. Turning back to the phone she smiled at Jack who grinned and chuckled lightly at her.

“Still can’t get over that green stuff on your face.” He said softly.

“I’ll have you know it does wonders for the skin.” Bunny defended with a laugh and Jack grinned at her.

“I just wanna say thanks again Bunny. You’re doin’ me a real favor here.” Jack said warmly and for a second there Bunny thought she heard a warm southern accent in his voice that made her head tilt a little bit.  _ Odd. _ Shaking her head lightly she immediately pushed the thought away.

“Jack I told you I don’t mind watching Esme. She’s been a sweetheart. There’s nothing for you to worry about I promise.” Bunny said earnestly as she stared into the phone at Jack.

“Alright, alright. I just I really appreciate it.” Jack said again and Bunny smiled at his almost pleading tone.

“What do I gotta do to get you to stop thanking me?” Bunny asked teasingly and watched as Jack’s eyes dart away from the phone and then back to her.  _ Was that a blush she saw creeping onto his cheeks? _ Before Jack could become even more embarrassed Bunny spoke up again. “Don’t mention it Jack. Seriously don’t.” She teased him and he chuckled and shook his head. Just then Bunny let out a wide yawn and Jack chuckled again as her hand came up to try and hide the yawn from him.

“Alright I’ll let ya go. I’ll text you tomorrow morning.” He said with a nod and Bunny nodded along with him.

“Sounds good to me. Goodnight.” She said starting to feel the drowsiness creep into her body.

“Goodnight Bunny.” He responded and Bunny smiled before pressing the red button on the bottom of the screen. With the call ended Bunny set her book aside and stood up stretching. Yawning again she began to walk down the hallway towards the bathroom. When she saw Esme sitting up on the counter she grinned at the little girl.

“Alright girlie let’s get these masks off and you tucked up into bed.” Bunny said warmly and set about cleaning off Esme’s face first.

———

Bunny jolted awake suddenly and sat straight up in bed. Her hand came up to her chest where she felt her heart racing so fast underneath her skin. Taking a moment to look around the dark room she wondered what had woken her up so suddenly when she heard it. A loud piercing scream rang through the air and Bunny was instantly moving. 

Throwing off the covers Bunny scrambled out of bed a little unceremoniously and almost fell when her feet got stuck in the blanket. But she was able to get to her feet and rushed out of the room. She grabbed the doorknob to the guest bedroom across the hallway from her and opened the door quickly. Her hand slid along the wall for the light switch and when she finally found it she clicked the light on.

Her heart clenched tightly in her chest when her eyes adjusted to see a bed head wild eyed Esme sitting straight up in bed shaking. Moving to the side of the bed Bunny sat down on it and peered at the little girl who was whimpering and shaking as she sat in the bed.

Bunny gently placed a hand on Esme’s back and began to gently rub circles trying to soothe the girl. Slowly catching her breath Bunny watched as Esme’s eyes slowed their wild and crazed darting around the room. Her breaths began to slow and her trembling also eased. Suddenly her body slumped forward and Bunny quickly wrapped the girl in her arms where Esme curled into her and buried her face in Bunny’s neck.

“I had a nightmare. Daddy didn’t come home. And then I woke up and it wasn’t my room.” Esme cried softly and Bunny tightened her arms around the little girl.

“It’s ok, your Dad is fine. Remember we just talked to him a few hours ago. And when you get in the morning he’s gonna call again. He told me he was gonna call again.” Bunny tried to reassure the little girl softly.

“I miss him.” Esme whimpered softly and Bunny rested her head on top of the girl’s.

“I know sweetheart. It’s a big change for the two of you. I know he was very worried about you when he had to leave and I know he still worries about you. But I’ll get you through it and soon enough he’ll be home.” Bunny reassured.

“Can you stay until I fall back asleep?” Esme asked quietly.

“Of course, let me just grab my phone for my alarm in case I fall asleep ok?” Bunny said softly. Esme nodded and Bunny quickly left the room only to return moments later with her phone and phone charger. She pulled it into the wall and set the phone on the end table next Esme’s bed. 

The little girl then scooted over and Bunny climbed on top of the covers next to the little girl. She opened up her arms and Esme quickly rushed to snuggle herself against the woman. Bunny lay there holding Esme and let her hand gently trail up and down the girl’s back hoping to ease her back into sleep.

Not long after Bunny heard Esme’s soft snores as the little girl fell back asleep. Bunny tried her hardest to keep her eyes open but soon she found herself falling asleep next to the little girl.

———

The loud blaring of Bunny’s alarm had both Bunny and Esme groaning and trying to bury their heads back into the pillows beneath them. Bunny chuckled softly as her hand reached out blindly to grab her phone and shut off the alarm. When it finally ended she sighed softly and began to snuggle back into the bed.

Just then the loud chiming of a video call came through on the phone and Bunny groaned again and rolled over to grab the phone. She yawned widely as she sat up in bed and accepted the video call not bothering to look at it.

“Well good morning sleepyhead!” Came the chipper voice of Jack and Bunny’s whole body seemed to jerk in it’s spot as her eyes opened wide to stare at his smiling face on her phone.

“Is that Daddy?” Asked Esme suddenly wide awake. She sat up and then clambered behind Bunny to peer over her shoulder.

“There’s my sleeping beauty.” Jack said happily as he smiled. Bunny smiled as she began to rub sleep out of her eyes. “Hey is everything ok? You look like you didn’t get much sleep.” Jack said concerned and Bunny realized he was talking to her and not Esme.

“Geeze Whisk, have you forgotten how to talk to women after all this time?” Came a snarky voice in the background of Jack’s phone. Bunny burst out laughing when she heard the voice and shook her head as she watched Jack’s cheeks heat up again. “Nothin’ more than a woman wants to hear is that she looks like she needs more sleep.” Came the voice again and Bunny chuckled as she titled her head to the side and pursed her lips.

“He’s not wrong.” She teased Jack and he made a face at her making both her and Esme laugh at him. Turning to Esme she began to hand over the phone to the little girl. “Here talk to your Dad while you pick out your clothes for school. I’m gonna go get dressed alright?” Bunny suggested and Esme nodded thankfully up at her.

“Thanks Bunny.” Esme said warmly and Bunny nodded knowing that the little girl meant more than just this. Standing from the bed Bunny stretched and tuned out the conversation that Esme and Jack were having before she walked out of the room and across the hall to her own room.

Dressing quickly she walked back out of the room and down to the kitchen so that she could wake Butter up and let him out before she started breakfast. 

“C’mon Butter, let’s get you out in the backyard.” Bunny called out to the dog who was laying in his bed waiting for her. She laughed as he launched himself out of the dog bed and began booking it down the hallway to the back door. “Alright, alright hold your horses.” He grumbled out as he began to bounce on his feet at the back door barking happily. Opening the door for him she watched as he quickly ran for the squirrels that had congregated under her bird feeders. She chuckled softly and shook her head as she watched him try in vain to get to the squirrels. “Crazy dog.” She scoffed softly and turned back to the hallway after shutting the door.

Walking back down the hallway she meets Esme at the bottom of the stairs still talking to Jack. Bunny smiles and walks into the kitchen and pulls out a pan as well as some eggs and bacon for their breakfast.

“Hey Esme, how does eggs and bacon sound for breakfast?” Bunny asks warmly.

“That sounds good to me.” Esme says happily as she climbs onto one of the stools at the kitchen island.

“Sounds good to me too.” Jack says over the phone and Bunny laughs softly at him.

“Me too!” Chimes in another voice and Bunny grins as she shakes her head.

“Daddy! Uncle Tequila you’re not here you can’t have any.” Esme scolds them and Bunny laughs happily as she begins breakfast. They all happily chat as Bunny cooks and soon enough her and Esme are sitting down at the dining table to eat. Bunny sets the plates down and hears Butter barking at the back door. She quickly lets him back inside and then comes back to the kitchen to eat with Esme.

“So Esme tells me that you two had a rough night last night?” Jack asks softly from the phone that Esme had propped up against the jug of milk in the middle of the table. Bunny shrugs her shoulders as she finishes chewing her bite of eggs.

“It wasn’t too bad. She just missed you that’s all.” Bunny said truthfully and Jack nodded before opening his mouth. Bunny held up a finger to him and narrowed her eyes at him. “I swear Jack if you thank me one more time.” She threatened softly pointing her fork at him through the phone, Jack quickly shut his mouth and Bunny nodded her head. “It’s no big deal. It’s gonna take some adjusting but we’ll get through it.” Jack nodded his head at her and smiled warmly.

“Alright well me and Tequila are gonna’ head out to grab some breakfast. I’ll text ya later alright?” He said and Bunny nodded her head as she took another bite of eggs. 

“Sounds good.” Bunny said easily and Jack smiled at her. 

“Bye Es. Love ya!” Jack said lovingly to his daughter and she easily returned the sentiment.

“Love you Daddy. Bye!” Esme called out before pressing the end button. The two of them easily fell into a comfortable silence as they finished eating their breakfast.

“So I’ve noticed you and your Dad have accents but not all the time?” Bunny asked curiously as she picked up both plates from the table and began walking them over to the sink.

“Oh yeah Daddy and I are from Kentucky.” Esme said proudly and Bunny smiled as she nodded her head at the little girl. “I’ve got a little accent but Daddy’s got a bigger one. But ever since Mommy died he doesn’t use it.” Esme explained softly and Bunny stopped what she was doing and turned swiftly to the little girl. 

“I’m so sorry Esme. I didn’t mean to bring this up.” Bunny said truthfully watching the little girl.

“It’s okay. It happened awhile ago. Daddy still gets sad sometimes but not as much anymore.” Esme said softly. Bunny knelt down and held her arms open for the little girl who quickly rushed into them and hugged Bunny tightly.

“It’s okay for him to be sad. And you too. It’s okay for that.” Bunny said softly as she held the little girl tightly. “If you ever wanna talk about your Mom you let me know and I’ll sit and listen ok?” 

“Ok.” Esme said nodding her head.

“Good. Ok, go brush your teeth and I’ll pack a lunch for ya.” Bunny said easily as they pulled away from each other and the little girl ran up the stairs to her bedroom to finish getting ready for school. 

Standing Bunny turned back to the sink and sighed softly. She was still learning things about Jack and Esme and truly didn’t mean to bring up her Mom at all. Now the accent she’d been hearing over the phone made sense.

———

The day progressed like normal if albeit a little more sluggish than it usually did. There was a sleepy haze hovering over Bunny since she woke up this morning to Esme screaming. But she pushed through it and went about her work day. She idly wondered if Esme was having as much trouble today staying awake as she was. 

Soon the alarm on her phone went off and Bunny powered down her computer. She was still having difficulty with one client’s website design and hadn’t made any leeway unfortunately. Hopefully soon she’d find the inspiration to get the way the client wanted it.

Walking to the front door she grabbed onto Butter’s leash and whistled for him. His little pitter patter of feet on the hardwood floors filled the house and he came running into the front entryway. When she opened up the front door after putting the leash on Butter she could see that it was much foggier than it had been this morning. Making a quick decision on what they would have for dinner she smiled widely and the two of them set off towards the bus stop.

Once they had gotten to the bus stop Bunny stood there waiting with Butter who sat down at her feet and began to pant for air with his tongue hanging out. It wasn’t that long of a wait but as Bunny stood there she could feel the chill starting to creep into her bones and shivered slightly at it. Her phone chimed from in her pocket and pulling it out she saw that she had a message from Jack.

_ How are you guys doing? _ You smiled down at the phone and began typing out a response. It was sweet that he was checking in with her and Esme already.

_ Sleepy but good. Waiting for Es to get home. _ Bunny shook her head softly as her eyes darted over to see Butter rolling on the sidewalk on his back.

_ Are you alright?  _ Came the next message and Bunny felt a warmth envelope her chest at his worry and concern for her.

_ I’m fine. I planned an exciting adventure to the grocery store to get ingredients for dinner. Hopefully it’ll wake us both up.  _ Bunny heard the loud brakes of the bus squeaking behind her and she looked up from her phone to see the bus pulling up to the curb. 

Esme slowly walked down the steps of the bus with a tired look in her eyes and Bunny could feel her heart melt at the way Esme’s shoulders slumped forward as she walked along the sidewalk towards her and Butter. She looked up at Bunny once she was in front of her and let out a big wide yawn that made Bunny start to yawn before she quickly covered her mouth to hide it. Esme giggled brightly at her and Bunny couldn’t help but grin at the little girl.

“So what do you say to a walk around the block and then head to the grocery store to get some stuff for dinner I had planned? I think it’s a little too cold for the park today.” Bunny suggested softly as she watched Esme tilt her head to the side tiredly.

“That sounds good.” Esme said with a sleepy nod of her head. “What’s for dinner?”

“It’s a surprise but we’re gonna make it fun.” Bunny said a little cryptically and she grinned as Esme looked up at her with a squinted look. “C’mon let’s get this butterball walking and home, then we can head out to the grocery store.” Bunny said hurriedly as she began ushering Esme and Butter around the block.

———

It took a little bit longer for the three of them to get around the block because half way around the block Butter spotted his nemesis, Mr. Squirrel and had to take a good few moments to continuously bark at his rival. But finally Bunny was opening the front door and everyone was piling into the front hallway. Quickly unhooking Butter’s leash Bunny hung it up on the hook and then walked farther into the house.

“Alright kiddo, how much homework do you have tonight?” she asked over her shoulder as she walked down the hallway to the craft room at the back of her house.

“Only one worksheet for vocabulary.” Esme said happily as she stood watching Bunny curiously.

“Good, set your backpack in the kitchen and then come help me.” Came Bunny’s voice from the craft room that she had walked into.

Esme did as she was told and then walked down the hallway to the room at the end of the hallway. Stepping into the room Esme let out a soft gasp at all the craft material on display. Her eyes danced around the room with excitement, there was a small square table in the middle of the room that many different labeled containers stored underneath it that held different craft materials. On the walls were different inspirational posters and other craft tools stored in different odd puzzle like configurations. There was a long desk along one side of the room with a computer monitor and printer on one section of it and right next to it was a sewing machine. The room was brightly decorated with rainbow colored posters and wall decorations around the craft storage. Esme could feel herself starting to grow excited at the possibilities that she would be to make with all of these materials.

Just then there was a loud grunt on the other side of the room and Esme walked over to see Bunny bent over a very large chest that looked like a pirate’s treasure chest. Esme bounced over with excitement building up inside her.

“Is this your treasure chest?” Esme asked excited and Bunny laughed happily at the little girl’s excitement.

“Oh yeah, but it’s a different type of treasure.” Bunny said conspiratorially. She opened the lid of the chest and let it fall gently back to reveal what was stored inside. Esme gasped as she spotted all the clothes that were folded and laid inside. Reaching out she let her hand gently graze the clothes and grinned up at Bunny.

“Are these costumes?” Esme asked as she practically vibrated next to Bunny.

“Sure are. I have a friend at the local stage theater who lets me pick out any of the costumes that they are getting rid of after they no longer need the costumes. Plus I’ve sewn a few of these, nothing crazy or anything.” Bunny explained. “But for our dinner tonight we have to dress up to go get it. It’s the only way that you should go out and get these ingredients. Are you down for that?” Bunny asked seriously as she stood next to Esme folding her arms over her chest.

“Yes! Yes! What are we dressing up as?” Esme asked excitedly. Bunny plucked out two large sombreros from the chest and set one on top of Esme’s head making her giggle as it slid down over her eyes. Bunny bent down and tilted the sombrero back so that Esme could see clearly and grinned at the little girl.

“You look absolutely perfect.” Bunny said happily. “I figured we need a little pick me up for dinner tonight since we’re both tired. What better way than dressing up to go get ingredients for Taco Tuesday!” she cheered the end of the sentence loudly and Esme squealed with delight and bounced on her toes making the sombrero bob and sway with her movements. “Alright what do you say to take a few pictures for your Dad so we can send them to him?” Bunny asked then and Esme grinned up at her nodding her head eagerly. Bunny laughed softly and placed her own sombrero on her head and knelt down next to Esme.

“Do you have a selfie stick?” Esme asked softly and Bunny tilted her head for a second trying to remember if she did have one. 

“Oh! Yes hold on!” Bunny said, suddenly remembering. She clambered up onto her feet and moved to the closet in the room and opened the door. Esme squealed as she saw what was inside the closet making Bunny whirl back around to her in surprise. “What? What is it?” she asked hurriedly before Esme rushed into the closet.

“You have pirate swords!” Esme cheered loudly and Bunny laughed relieved as Esme pulled out the fake pirate sword from the closet.

“Yeah, I forgot I had all these props for when the community does photo booths. Jeremy the guard bought me a selfie stick at one of the parties that the community threw and I completely forgot about it.” Bunny explained as she looked for the selfie stick in the closet. “Got it!” she called and pulled it out of the closet triumphantly.

“Can we dress up as pirates one day after school?” Esme asked sweetly and Bunny smiled nodding her head at the little girl who cheered happily and jumped on her toes.

“Okay go ahead and put that back for now. We will definitely dress up as pirates one day. I promise.” Bunny promised as she nodded her head over to the closet for Esme. Esme did as she was told and then came back to stand next to a kneeling Bunny. They both smiled for the first picture and Bunny snapped a few shots.

“Can we do a silly face one?” Esme asked as she giggled happily. Bunny nodded and lined up the phone again and the two of them laughed and giggled as they made funny faces for the pictures.

“Alright let’s pick which ones to send to your dad and then we’ll head to the grocery store.” Bunny said as she pulled her phone from the selfie stick and showed Esme all of the pictures that she took. She let Esme pick a handful of them and sent them off to Jack with a smile. “Ok kiddo let’s get going so we can get the ingredients.” Bunny said smiling as she put away the selfie stick before ushering Esme out of the room as they both still wear the sombreros on their heads.

———

While they’re walking up and down the aisles Bunny is laughing as Esme bounces around making her sombrero flop around her head. Just then Bunny hears her cellphone start ringing and she pulls it out seeing that Jack is video calling her. She grins and looks over at Esme showing her the phone to the little girl. Esme bounced over and giggle as she took the phone from Bunny and quickly answered the call from her Dad.

“Daddy! Happy Taco Tuesday!” She cheered happily as she saw her father show up on the phone screen. Jack’s laugh sounded from the phone and Bunny smiled at the sound. It was a sound that she knew she was starting to get used to hearing and looked forward to it whenever he called. Shaking her head she continued down the aisle and picked out taco shells that she would need for dinner.

“Hey Es, do you want hard taco shells? Or do you want to do soft tortillas?” Bunny asked over her shoulder to the little girl. She came bounding over to her with the phone with happiness just emitting from her in waves. Bunny smiles at Jack as she sees him on the screen as a feeling of relief and gratitude fills her that Esme is able to see her father even if it’s just on a video call.

“I want hard taco shells.” Esme says in response and Bunny nods her head before picking up a package of the taco shells. She continues down the aisle with Esme walking next to her talking animated to her dad.

“So I really liked those pictures you sent him girls.” Came Jack’s voice sounding a little teasing and Bunny laughed happily at that.

“Oh yeah it’s part of my plan to wake us up. It is Taco Tuesday and we  _ have _ to celebrate. What better way than to wear sombreros as we pick out taco ingredients for dinner.” Bunny said with a shrug of her shoulders. “Plus it’s always fun cooking together and I figured Esme would enjoy it.”

“Oh I think it’s a great idea and it looks like you guys are having a ton of fun.” Jack said warmly and Esme giggled as she nodded her head making the sombrero to fall over her eyes. Bunny laughed and helped adjust the hat on her head.

“Having a lot of fun Daddy. I really like being with Bunny.” Esme said happily and Bunny felt her heart melt at the little girl’s words. She wrapped one arm around the little girl and cuddled her into her side smiling down at Esme.

“And it definitely looks like Bunny enjoys having you around.” Jack said fondly and Bunny looked over at him as she still held Esme close to her. She smiled brightly at the man on the phone screen and watched as his own smile grew and his breath stuttered in his chest.

“Alright kiddo let’s get going and finish up our shopping so that we can get cooking. I’m getting hungry.” Bunny said as she continued down the aisle letting Esme time to talk with her dad.

———

It was later that night that Bunny and Esme are sitting on the floor in the living room as 13 Going On 30 is playing on the t.v. Dinner was done and cleaned away already and the two of them are sitting with their backs against the couch and the coffee table in front of them. Bunny has a wide array of nail polishes laid out on the coffee table in front of them.

“Alright so I figured we could do something special tonight by doing manicures and pedicures.” Bunny suggested kindly. “I can paint your nails and do anything you want on them.”

“Oooh, really?” Esme asked excitedly as she looked over the many bottles of nail polish. “What do you normally do?” Esme asked curiously.

“Well I usually do two different colors unless I find something on Pinterest that I’d like to try out. I find different patterns that I like to try sometimes. But it’s up to you if I can do it I’ll do it. Let me show you some of the stuff I’ve found on Pinterest that I’ve done.” Bunny explained as she pulled up her Pinterest on her phone and began showing Esme some of the nail painting ideas that she’s been able to do. 

Esme took a few minutes to look over the Pinterest board that Bunny had created. Bunny watched as she scrolled through the pictures and then smiled when Esme turned the phone back to show her the nail polish design she would like done on her nails. It was a simple design of black nails with rainbow dots.

“Ok, go wash your hands first and then we’ll get started.” Bunny said excitedly as she too got up from the floor pausing the movie. Esme rushed off to the bathroom to wash her hands and Bunny went into the kitchen and washed her hands as well before coming back to the living room. “Alright so first things first, pick a hand lotion you would like to wear once I’m done. Once your nails are dry I’ll put the lotion on your hands to make them smell good.” Bunny explained as she showed Esme her collection of hand lotions.

“Why do you have so many hand lotions?” Esme asked as she began to sniff each other trying to figure out which one she would like to wear.

“I have dry skin and the skin on my hands crack and dries out very quickly if I don’t use hand lotion.” Bunny explained as she smiled at Esme. “I also like the smell of the lotions so I buy a bunch of different ones to try out.”

“I like this purple flower one.” Esme says as she shows Bunny a container of lavender hand lotion. Bunny nods her head and sets aside the hand lotion. Bunny then started setting up the nail polish she would need to be able to paint Esme’s nails. 

“Ok so we’ll use that at the end. That’s a good smell, it should help you relax. Lavender is a relaxing scent.” Bunny said as she continued to set up everything. “Alright so first what I’m gonna do is a cuticle oil that’s going to moisturize your nails and cuticles. It’s gonna help your nails grow too because I’m going to rub it into your skin. Then I’ll begin painting your nails ok?” Bunny explained to the little girl with a smile.

“Ok, can we still watch the movie while we do this?” Esme asked eagerly and Bunny nodded her head.

“Of course. We have to see how the movie ends, duh.” Bunny says like it’s a no brainer and grins at the excited girl.

Soon Bunny began applying the cuticle oil around each nail on the girls’ hands and began to rub it into the skin. The little girl watched for a little bit before her attention was pulled back to the movie playing on the t.v. 

“Are you going to paint your nails too?” Esme asked curiously as she looked back at what Bunny was doing.

“Yeah I’ll even let you pick out my nail polish and design.” Said Bunny as she continued to massage Esme’s fingers.

“Could we match?” Esme asked, sounding unsure and insecure. Bunny looked up suddenly at the little girl and saw her avoiding her eye. She saw the little girl bite her bottom lip in concern and Bunny couldn’t help but feel for the little girl. She wonders if the little girl is looking for a motherly figure to look up to and Bunny realizes that she doesn’t want to overstep but she would love to step up and be that person for Esme. 

“Of course we could match. I think that’d be really cool to do.” Bunny gushed happily. She knew that she would have to tread lightly with wanting to be there for Esme, she didn’t want to step on any boundaries that the girl had or any parenting that Jack had for her. So Bunny knew she would be there for Esme whenever she could be and would look out for her. She wouldn’t push but she’d always try to be there for her. “So what’s going on with school? Anything exciting?” Bunny asked as she began to paint Esme’s nails.

“Well I made a new friend named Nadia. She’s really cool. She’s a lot of fun.” Esme said happily.

“That’s great Es! I’m glad you made a new friend. Does she live far from here?” Bunny said excitedly as she swiped base coat onto her nails. Blowing softly on her nails Bunny looking up at Esme and saw the slightly saddened look on her face.

“No, she lives over by the library.” Esme replied a little downtrodden and Bunny nodded her head at the little girl.

“Well that’s not too far from here. If the two of you ever wanted to hang out after school like on the weekends I don’t think it would be too far of a drive for your Dad.” Bunny said knowingly and Esme seemed to perk up at that.

“Do you think he’d let us have sleepovers?” Esme asked as she bounced slightly in her seat. Bunny smiled as she set aside the base coat bottle and picked up the black nail polish bottle.

“It’s up to him sweetheart I don’t know what he would say.” Bunny said truthfully not wanting to get the girl’s hopes up to only be crushed when her Dad said no. Esme nodded her head at what Bunny said and Bunny began to focus on painting the first layer of black nail polish.

“Nadia said she’s going to introduce me to her other friends too. Said I should make more friends who will be nice to me.” Esme said easily and Bunny furrowed her eyebrows at that.

“What do you mean friend who will be nice to you? Is there someone not being nice to you at school?” Bunny asked as she felt her body tense at the idea that there were kids who weren’t being nice to Esme. Esme was such a sweet girl in her eyes she couldn’t imagine anyone finding anything to tease Esme about. And then suddenly it clicked. Bunny looked up to see Esme trying to avoid her eyes once again. “Es, are you still being bullied?” She asked softly as she stopped painting her nails and looked up at her giving her her full attention.

Esme shrugged her shoulders and kept trying to avoid Bunny’s eyes. Bunny tilted her head down to try and catch Esme’s line of sight. When she wasn’t able to Bunny sighed softly.

“You know, I was bullied when I was a little bit older than you.” Bunny said softly and saw out of the corner of her eye that Esme was now looking up at her surprised.

“Really?” Esme asked in shock. “But you’re so cool.” She said softly and Bunny laughed loudly at that.

“Thank you. I didn’t used to be when I was a kid though. The kids at my school made fun of me because I was always reading. Anytime I had spare time while at school I had my face buried in a book. I had some friends but we weren’t popular. We didn’t do a lot of sports, just what was required in gym class. I was more interested in books and doing crafts than sports and going to parties like a lot of the other kids at my school. So I got picked on a lot at school. Oh! And I loved to swim, my family had a swimming pool and I was in it all summer from sun up to sun down pretty much. The chlorine in the pool started to change the color of my hair and when I went back to school I got teased for that by the kids at my school.” Bunny explained about her experience in school. Esme watched her silently as she listened to what Bunny said.

“How did you get rid of the bullies?” Esme asked softly. Bunny sat there for a moment and thought back to how she got the bullies to stop teasing her.

“I showed them that I didn’t care about what they said. The bullies are looking for a reaction from you. They want to see you cry and get upset. If you don’t cry or get upset they could stop. Or you can stand up to them and tell them to stop.” Bunny said truthfully.

“Like Nadia did the other day when the girls were teasing me about not playing in gym.” Esme said matter of factly. Bunny nodded her head.

“Did the girls stop teasing you after Nadia told them to stop?” Bunny asked curiously.

“They did.” Esme said nodding her head.

“Ok so maybe when they start teasing you again tell them no and stop. If they don’t stop you go to a teacher and tell the teacher what’s going on. They shouldn’t be teasing you for not being in gym.” Bunny said honestly.

“I don’t want to get in trouble.” Esme said dejectedly as she looked down at the floor.

“You won’t get in trouble for telling someone to stop teasing you. Or telling the teacher what’s going on.” Bunny said emphatically. “If someone is bothering you and making trouble for you, you have to say something otherwise people can’t help you sweetheart.”

“Ok. If they start teasing me again I’ll say something.” Esme said as she nodded.

“So maybe we need to find you something that you would be able to do instead of gym. Something that your asthma wouldn’t be aggravated. Let me talk to your Dad later and see if we can try something this weekend before he comes home.” Bunny suggested as she began to paint Esme’s nails again.

“You think there’s something that I can do that’s a sport?” Esme asked.

“There’s definitely a possibility. We’ll start off easy though and do something that’s not a sport. We’ll see how you do and then go from there.” Bunny said, trying to caution the little girl. “I don’t want you to get your hopes up too high. We have to see how you do with this first one.” Bunny said softly as she looked at Esme. Esme nodded her head slowly at Bunny and she responded with a soft smile and ruffling the little girl's hair on her head which made her squeal and try to get away without messing up her freshly painted nails.

———

“Dad! Look at my nails! Bunny painted them for me. And she painted her nails the same way so that we match!” Esme said excitedly as she showed Jack her painted nails as she sat up in her bed. Bunny was in her own room getting changed for bed and could hear the conversation going on between the two of them. She tuned it out a little bit to give the two of them some privacy but kept an ear out for anytime Esme would call out her name.

It was probably a good ten minutes later that Esme called out to Bunny from across the hall. Placing her bookmark in the science fiction novel that she was reading she set the book on the bed side table and got up from the bed. Walking across the hall she smiled as she pushed the door open and saw Esme lounging back on her pillows as she held the phone up to still look at her Dad. Her eyes were drooping and she had a sleepy smile on her face when she noticed Bunny.

“Dad said he wanted to say goodnight to you.” Esme said softly and Bunny nodded her head at the little girl.

“Sure thing, did you finish saying goodnight? I’d like to talk to your Dad for a quick second.” Bunny explained as Esme handed her the phone.

“Yeah. Can you read me a story once you’re done?” Esme asked as she yawned widely. Bunny laughed softly and nodded her head at Esme.

“Of course I can. Once I’m done I’ll come back in okay?” she said easily to Esme and Esme just nodded as she snuggled further into the bed.

Turning back to the phone Bunny walked out of Esme’s room and into her own. Bunny smiled softly at herself as she realized it was only day two with the little girl and she already thought of the spare room as Esme’s room.

“What’s the smile on your face for?” asked Jack and Bunny looked back at her phone letting the smile widen.

“I was just thinking that that’s Esme’s room already.” she said fondly and Jack grinned at her through the phone. “So I wanted to talk to you about possibly enrolling Esme in a dog yoga class that the community holds on the weekend.” Bunny explained confidently to Jack. “She mentioned that she’s still being bullied and teased at school for not being able to do gym or sports. I did a little bit of research and I have a friend in the dog yoga class who has asthma. Yoga is something that Esme could be able to do even with her asthma. It’s a slow class and very low key, I’ve gone a few times and maybe it’ll help with her asthma.” Bunny began to ramble again, she grimaced slightly as the words left her mouth and she felt herself falling farther and farther down the rabbit hole of trying to convince Jack to let Esme go to yoga. She had even begun to pace as she talked about what she wanted to do for Esme without even being aware of it. “I’ll be with her there the whole time. I’ll make sure I have her inhaler. I don’t want to overstep but she wants to do sports and she’s been upset about the teasing and bullying.” 

“Easy Bunny, easy.” Jack said lowly with a little bit of an accent and Bunny took in a deep breath after stopping the word flow coming from her mouth. She shivered a little bit as the low easy comforting tone of Jack’s voice embraced her through the phone. His voice was so soothing and the accent that her ears now tried to catch and pick up was something that she knew she would love to listen to for hours. Feeling a flush grace her cheeks she grimaced slightly at the phone. “Let me call her doctor tomorrow morning and ask if that would be alright. To me it sounds fine, I know you’ll take care of her. I couldn’t ask for a better guardian to Esme than you.” Jack said softly and Bunny felt her heart thud heavily in her chest.

“Thanks Jack.” Bunny said softly as tears began to prick her eyes. She didn’t know why his words were affecting her like this. Yeah, she cared about Esme and wanted the best for the little girl but was just two days long enough to make her so invested in the girl? Bunny stood in the middle of her room where she had stopped her pacing. She stared off into her room and tried to gather her thoughts and found that all she wanted for Esme was her to feel good about herself. She didn’t want Esme to feel bad that the other kids teased her about her asthma. She felt connected to the little girl because of her own childhood past of being bullied and teased. She had wished that there was someone in her life back then who had stood up for her like Nadia was doing for Esme now. Or someone to help make her feel better about herself like she was trying to do for Esme.

“Did I lose ya Bunny?” asked Jack suddenly and Bunny was pulled from her thoughts suddenly. She turned her eyes back to the phone and smiled before letting out a big yawn trying to cover it quickly with her free hand. Jack laughed softly at the sight and Bunny flushed brightly.

“Sorry just got lost in thought for a moment.” she said sheepishly and he shook his head at her.

“No worries Bunny. I’ll let you get to sleep. I’ll let you know what the doctor says after I call her okay?” he says warmly as he grins at her from her phone screen.

“Alright sounds good to me.” she said easily. “Goodnight Jack.”

“Goodnight Bunny.” he responded and Bunny smiled again before hanging up the video call. Feeling her stomach fluttering a little she tried to push it down. She knew it would be dangerous to start developing feelings for her new neighbor so soon. But she couldn’t help but feel happy that he thought she was a good guardian for Esme.

Walking back across the hall to Esme’s room she peeked in and saw the little girl was already asleep snuggled in her bed. A medium sized stuffed octopus clutched tightly in her arms as she snored softly in her sleep. Bunny sighed softly as she leant against the doorframe and watched Esme sleeping. Shaking her head softly she smiled at herself, who knew her new neighbors would manage to weasel their way into her life so easily.

———

The next morning Bunny’s alarm blared her ‘Hype Music’ playlist waking her up from a deep peaceful sleep. She blearily blinked as she noticed the soft gray light filtering into her bedroom.  _ Esme slept through the night! _ Sitting upright from the bed Bunny silently fist pumped into the air and gasped happily as she swiped her phone from the end table turning off the alarm.  _ She had to tell Jack. _

Quickly pulling up Jack’s text message thread she typed out a quick message to him.

_ Taco Tuesday was a success and Esme slept through the night! _

Not waiting for a response she set her phone back down and got up from the bed. Changing easily into a pair of gray baggy sweatpants and a hunter green long sleeved shirt Bunny quickly tied up her hair out of her face and grabbed her phone before exiting her room. She peeked into Esme’s room quickly to see the girl still sound asleep and she grinned from ear to ear before she bounded down the stairs to the kitchen.

“C’mon Butter let’s get you outside to pee.” Bunny said softly as she walked into the kitchen stretching widely feeling more refreshed and accomplished than ever before. She patted her thighs and whistled for Butter who was still snoozing himself on his back half in his dog bed and half out of it.

When he heard her whistle his little body twisted and flipped in such a way that had Bunny groaning in sympathetic pain. But the little dog quickly got to his feet and slid across the floor towards her. She laughed softly and walked him down the back hallway to the back door.

“Go on. Get it done quick so you can come back into the warmth.” she told the dog as he leapt from the back steps and made a mad dash for his arch rival who was once again taunting him with his tittering fluffy tail. Shaking her head Bunny shut the back door and watched for a moment as Butter rushed the squirrel who quickly broke away from the discarded birdseed on the ground. 

Turning back around Bunny walked back into the kitchen and set up her phone to begin playing her playlist on the downstairs speakers. She hummed and swayed her hips to the upbeat song and began setting out the ingredients for an egg and veggie omelet. She was cutting up the veggies that she wanted to put in the omelet when she heard the spare bathroom door close from upstairs and she smiled.

She let Butter back into the house and was just plating up one of the omelets when Esme walked into the kitchen already dressed in a pretty light purple shirt and dark wash bootcut blue jeans, her hair was in disarray and she looked crestfallen at that fact as she tried to pull it up into a ponytail.

“Here, eat your omelet and I’ll take care of your hair ok?” Bunny offered as she set the plate of the omelet in front of Esme. Esme looked up at her gratefully and nodded her head.

“Thank you.” she said softly before she began digging into her breakfast.

“No problem, do you want a ponytail or a braid? Two braids?” Bunny asked as she walked around Esme and grabbed the brush that was sitting on the kitchen island.

“Oooh! Can you do two braids? Or two braids that go into one?” Esme asked eagerly.

“I can do two braids, one of either side of your head for today. Anything else fancy and I’ll have to look it up on google on how to do it.” Bunny said as she began to brush out Esme’s long hair.

“You’d do that? Look it up for me?” Esme asked curiously and with a hopefully lilt to her voice.

“Of course. If I can figure out how to do it for you I will. So what would you like for tomorrow? Two braids that go into one?” Bunny assured her easily.

“Yes please!” Esme cheered happily. Bunny nodded as she hummed along to the song playing on her phone and began to braid Esme’s hair into two long braids.

“Oh! I’ve got a sparkly ribbon that I can tie into bows on the end would you want that?” Bunny asked suddenly as she thought about the ribbon that she had in her craft room.

“Is it purple?” Esme asked as she turned to look at Bunny with wide eyes.

“It might be let me go get it and we’ll see if it looks good.” Bunny suggested as she hurried over to the craft room and grabbed the sparkle ribbon she had. When she made it back to the kitchen Esme had already finished her breakfast and was just finishing up her orange juice. Bunny showed her the ribbon and Esme nodded eagerly as she still drank from her cup. Bunny laughed and walked behind Esme again. Easily tying a neat little bow on the end of each braid Bunny nodded her head in accomplishment. “Alright all done. Go on upstairs and brush your teeth, get your jacket and backpack while I eat my breakfast ok?” 

“Thanks Bunny!” Esme called after she put her dirty dishes in the sink and rushed upstairs. Shaking her head slightly Bunny quickly made her own omelet and ate it standing at the kitchen island. Furrowing her brow slightly as she leaned against the island just letting her thoughts run away from her as the music still played over the speakers. Gasping suddenly Bunny turned towards the notebook she kept next to the fridge and quickly began jotting down ideas that she had for the client’s website that she was designing. She smiled as she realized after writing everything down that all her ideas were all inspiration from braiding Esme’s hair.

———

It had been a few hours since Esme had gotten onto the school bus and Bunny had been eyeballs deep into her work. After the inspirational breakthrough she had this morning thanks to Esme she had easily applied her ideas to the website design for her client and had completed a very sleek and eye appealing website. With the finishing touches now being completed Bunny sent off the design to the client and powered down her computer.

Swiping her phone off the desk she lazily scrolled through the notifications until she saw that Jack had texted her about an hour or so ago. She had already warned him on the video call he had with Esme this morning that she would be busy with her work today as she had finally gotten over the block she had come across. He had told her it wasn’t a problem and that he’d text her later but not to worry about responding back right away. He knew how work could easily keep your focus and you lose track of time.She opened the text and smiled when she saw what he had written.

_ Doctor says yoga is a-ok with her. Also said any other exercises or sport classes that are low key like yoga would be good too. If you have any suggestions I’m all for it. _

Bunny tilted her head to the side as she tried to think of any other classes that Esme could take that would make her feel better about having asthma. Bunny stood from her desk chair and walked into the kitchen to begin prepping for dinner tonight. She had plans to get Esme more into helping her cook tonight and she knew the little girl would enjoy it. Typing away on her phone she sent off a text to Jack and set the phone down.

_ Did the Doctor suggest anything? Do you think she meant classes like karate or tai chi? It could maybe help Esme feel better if she had some self defense classes. It might make her feel more confident. _

Pulling out the yeast packet Bunny began making the dough for the homemade pizzas she had planned for tonight. After kneading the dough she placed it in a bowl with a towel over it and set it to the side. She then pulled out some veggies and began chopping them up so that they’d go easier on the pizza. Then Bunny began heating up some tomato sauce and adding spices into it and letting it simmer on the stove. Once everything was done and prepped she looked over at the clock over the stove and saw that she had about ten minutes until the bus would be arriving. 

“C’mon Butter! Let’s go get Esme!” She called out to the dog and heard his feet scrambling against the floor as he ran from his spot in the hallway where the sun managed to hit the floor and heat it enough for Butter to take a cat nap. “You silly dog.” she said fondly to him as she clipped his leash to his collar and the two of them walked out of the house together. Slipping her phone out of her pocket when she heard her notification sound go off she smiled as she saw another text from Jack.

_ That’s a good idea. Do you know of any karate classes? _

_ I’ll see what I can find out and let you know. ;) _

Bunny froze as she looked down at the text that she sent Jack. The little winking emoji stared up at her and she felt her breath slowly escape out of her lungs.  _ Why did she send that?! How was Jack going to take that little emoji? Was he going to think she was flirting with him? Was she flirting with him? Would he like that she was flirting with him? _ Thoughts raced through her mind as she stared at the emoji and waited to see if he would send a response really quickly or not. 

“Bunny!” Shouted Esme and Bunny jumped almost a foot in the air as she whipped her head around to look at Esme. Pressing the hand holding her cellphone to her chest she tried to calm her racing heart. “You okay Bunny?” Esme asked curiously as she stared at her.

“Oh yeah, yeah kiddo. I’m fine. Sorry I was a little distracted.” Bunny said easily to Esme.

“What were you distracted of?” Esme asked and Bunny smiled softly at the mix up of words from her. And then she remembered what had distracted her. Bunny’s heart began to pound in her chest again and she took in a deep breath to try and calm herself down.

“Nothing sweetheart. Let’s get walking so Butter can go to the bathroom and then I’ve got another surprise for dinner tonight.” Bunny said softly. The two of them began walking around the block together and Bunny looked down at her phone to see that she had gotten another text message from Jack.

_ Thanks sweetheart. ;) _

Bunny felt her face flush and she slipped the phone into her back pocket quickly trying to put the text message out of her mind. But that text message would stay with her for the rest of the night.

———

The next morning Bunny’s alarm rings out and she rolls over in the bed sighing softly. Staring up at the ceiling she lets her hand rest against her stomach and her mind begins to drift off with Jack in the spotlight. Last night after her and Esme had made two medium sized pizzas with different toppings, Esme had said she wanted to take a bunch of pictures to send to Jack and Bunny had pulled out all the stops. She took pictures of Esme holding up her homemade pizza and then pictures of Esme eating the pizza.

Then the pictures had devolved into dressing up and having a dance party in Bunny’s bedroom. The two of them took selfies with the selfie stick as they posed and danced. Bunny had captured some videos too to send to Jack of her and Esme dancing around like crazy. 

When Jack had video called later that night he had laughed at the excited Esme as she giggled. He had even told Bunny that he loved her picture in the fuzzy boa before he winked at her over the screen. Bunny had flushed almost immediately and had quickly left the video call. Esme had given her an odd look for a moment before turning back to the screen and talking to Jack.

Bunny stared up at the ceiling focusing on the white paint and felt herself flushing again at the thought of Jack. She knew she was going to be sad when Esme was no longer staying with her, she had definitely gotten used to taking care of the little girl and having her around. But Jack was coming home in a few more days on Sunday night and Esme would have to go back home. Shaking her head Bunny tried to clear the sadness that was trying to creep up on her. It was only Thursday and she still had four more days with the little girl and the weekend to spend time with her. She wouldn’t let the sadness of her leaving ruin her time with her now.

Getting up from the bed she dresses in a pair of black leggings and slips on a light blue tank top and then a charcoal gray oversized sweater. She walked down the stairs after checking on Esme and quietly let out Butter into the backyard before stepping into the craft room and pulled out a length of sparkly rainbow colored ribbon that she wanted to weave into Esme’s hair. She had looked up how to videos online and had found some really cute designs for braids and ribbons to try on Esme.

In the kitchen she pulled out some frozen waffles and slid them into the toaster. She then pulled out some fresh fruit and began cutting them up and placing them in a medium sized bowl. The toaster went off and Bunny put in some more for herself before setting the first two on a plate and pulling out the butter dish and maple syrup. 

Esme was just walking into the kitchen when Bunny pulled the other two waffles out of the toaster. Smearing butter onto the waffles she stacked them on Esme’s plate and poured some maple syrup over them. 

“Mornin’ kiddo. How’d you sleep?” Bunny as she dished out some fruit as well for Esme.

“Good. What’s the rainbow ribbon for?” Esme responded easily as she yawned widely. Bunny chuckled softly and pulled the video of how to and showed Esme.

“I figured I’d try my hand at weaving some ribbon into your hair for your hairdo today. How’s that sound?” Bunny explained as Esme watched the how to video and squealed delightedly.

“That looks sooo good!” Esme cheered happily and Bunny nodded her head. “Oh please can we do this?” 

“Of course sweetheart.” Bunny said easily. “Eat up your waffles and some fruit and I’ll braid your hair.” Bunny explained as she began eating her own waffles. 

Once Bunny finished her waffles she moved behind Esme and set up her phone so she could watch the how to video as she braided Esme’s hair and weaved the sparkly rainbow ribbon into it. She braided one braid on each side of Esme’s head and then combined it into one larger braid all while weaving the ribbon into her braid. When she was finished she looked at the results and smiled warmly nodding her head.

“There we go. C’mon let’s go get check it out in the bathroom and then finish getting ready for school.” Bunny said nodding her head and began leading Esme up to the bathroom upstairs. While in the bathroom Bunny took a picture of Esme’s hair and showed it to her. Esme squealed with happiness and bounced on her feet. “You look very pretty Es. I hope you like it.” Bunny said truthfully and watched as the girl in front of her gasped and then lunged forward wrapping her arms around Bunny’s waist.

“I love it, thank you Bunny. You’re the best!” Esme cheered happily as she continued to hug Bunny. Bunny wrapped her arms around Esme and leant her head on top of Esme’s. Smiling softly she just let herself be hugged by the little girl and began to feel happiness start to consume her.

“You’re very welcome sweetheart.” Bunny said warmly to the girl and then patted her back three times. “Should we send a picture of your hair to your Dad. Show him how pretty you look today?” 

“Yes! He’s gonna love it!” Esme cheered happily. Bunny quickly pulled up the text thread for Jack and typed out a message before sending the picture of Esme’s hairdo off to him. She walked out of the bathroom and went into her own to brush her teeth. Just then her phone started to ring with the video call ringtone and Bunny answered it as she was brushing her teeth.

Jack’s face came onto the screen and Bunny hummed at him as she continued to brush her teeth. Jack’s laughter came over the speaker and he grinned at her before she bent over and spat out her toothpaste.

“Hold on one second Jack.” Bunny said quickly as she rinsed out her mouth and began walking to Esme’s bathroom. “Good morning by the way.” Bunny said easily and grinned at him.

“Good mornin’ to ya too Bunny.” Jack said easily and his grin grew in size on his face. Bunny pressed a button on the screen and switched the camera to face front and showed Jack the back of Esme’s hair. Jack gave a long loud whistle and Esme whirled around with a grin on her face.

“Doesn’t she look so pretty Jack?” Esme asked smiling at the girl.

“She looks as beautiful as a rose. You did a good job Bunny, you’re setting the bar high for me aren’t ya? Good morning sunshine!” Jack said happily and Bunny handed the phone to Esme who switched the camera back and began talking to her Dad. Bunny smiled at the excited chatter that instantly filled the bathroom.

“Good morning Daddy. Thanks! I really love what Bunny did with my hair.” Esme said easily as she continued to grin and bounce lightly on her toes.

“She did a really good job with it.” Jack agreed with her. Bunny smiled as she walked out of the bathroom leaving the two of them to talk.

———

Bunny had seen a very excited Esme off on the bus. The little girl bouncing around happily saying that she couldn’t wait to show Nadia her hair ribbons. According to Esme her new friend Nadia always had such pretty hairdos and pretty barrettes in her hair. As Bunny walked back to her house with Butter she idly wondered if she could make Esme a set of pretty barrettes that Jack would be able to put in her hair.

When she got back to the house she walked into the craft room and booted up her computer to look up what she would need to create some pretty barrettes and bows for Esme. As since she had finished the project for her client ahead of schedule Bunny had the next two days off to spend however she wanted. She would only need to wait on the response back from her client and then she would be back to work to implement the website design for the client.

Looking at the computer screen Bunny saw what she needed to make bows and nodded her head confidently as she saw most of the supplies she needed she had. Putting on some background music she began pulling out all the supplies she needed.

Before she actually got down to creating the bows a notification came across the speakers in the room and she looked over at her phone to see she had gotten a message from one of her girlfriends named Mercy who ran the dog yoga classes on the weekends.

_ Hey honey bunny! I heard through the grapevine that you’re going to be joining us this weekend with Butter and a friend? _

Bunny smiled as she saw the message and quickly began typing out a response to Mercy.

_ Yes I’m bringing Butter and a little girl named Esme who’s my new neighbor’s daughter that I’m watching this week. She has severe asthma so I’m trying to help find her classes that her doctor approved for her to take. The doctor suggested karate and tai chi but I don’t know of any classes nearby for that. Would you happen to know of any? _

_ Girl, I got you covered. I’ll bring all the info I’ve got on those types of classes. There’s a few places not far from the community that offer up karate and tai chi. There’s also father/daughter classes too if the Dad is into it. Or mother/daughter classes if she wants you to do it with her. _

_ Oh, that’s sweet of you but I don’t want to overstep. But I appreciate any help you can give me! Thanks sweetheart! I’ll see you on Saturday! _

_ Can’t wait! See you Saturday! _

Feeling a little accomplished with the prospect of having some information on classes for Esme Bunny grinned as she set her phone down on the counter again.

———

The day had warmed up a little bit, Butter was sprawled out in a large patch of sunlight that had heated up the wood floor in the craft room and Bunny was seated on the stool that sat next to her craft table in the middle of the room as she looped another pretty red ribbon on itself before securing it with her hot glue gun. Blowing lightly on the hot glue she pulled her fingers away and smiled triumphantly when the ribbon stayed perfectly still where she had placed it and glued it down. She picked up a black fabric covered button and put hot glue on the back of it before she pressed it in the middle of the red bow and let the glue adhere to ribbons and the back of the bow barrette.

Just then the shrill ringing of her cellphone caught her attention as the music cut off on the speakers. Setting the bow and the hot glue gun on the counter Bunny reached over and grabbed her phone. She saw Jack’s contact show up on the screen and smiled curiously as to why he was calling her in the middle of the day. Swiping her finger over the screen she easily unlocked the phone and heard the call connect.

“Jack? Are you okay?” Bunny asked curiously as she pressed the phone to her ear.

“Hey Bunny I’m sorry to call you during the work day.” came Jack’s rushed voice.

“No, no it’s okay what’s going on? What’s wrong?” Bunny asked now feeling worry start to course through her body. She felt her muscles tense as Jack’s tone. Something was wrong and her whole body was picking up on it just in his tone.

“I’m okay. Sorry, I’m okay. But I got a call from the school.” he said blowing out a sighing breath. Bunny was instantly relieved and then her body tensed when she realized that he mentioned the school.

“What’s wrong with Es? Did something happen? Was it her asthma?” Bunny began questioning him rapidly and Jack blew out another breath of air.

“No, she’s okay. I’m sorry I’m really bad at relaying this.” he said quickly trying to calm Bunny down. Bunny took in a breath and slowly blew it out closing her eyes as she slowly relaxed her tense muscles one at a time.

“Okay, next time just start out with everyone is okay then get to the info.” Bunny suggested as she tilted her head to the side and Jack chuckled softly at her words.

“Yeah that would have definitely been better. Sorry I didn’t mean to make you worry.” Jack said softly.

“It’s okay. My mind just jumped immediately to the worst case scenario. What’s going on though why did the school call you?” Bunny asked curious as she rested her elbow on the counter and then laid her head in her palm.

“So Esme got bullied again today and she went to a teacher to get it to stop.” Jack said softly and in a tone that sounded so heartbroken.

“What did the teacher do?” Bunny asked as she quickly picked her head up from her hand.

“The teacher stopped and brought the bullies to the principal’s office. Esme didn’t get into any trouble but the other kids are giving her the cold shoulder because she told the teacher.” Jack said dejectedly.

“Oh Es.” Bunny said softly as her heart instantly broke for the little girl.

“She’s probably going to come home not in the best mood at all. I just wanted to give you a heads up if she comes home and she’s down.” Jack said softly and Bunny nodded her head along with his words.

“Okay no problem. I think tonight I’ll see if she’ll be up to doing some crafts with me tonight. I’ve got a surprise for her that I’m hoping will lift her spirits a little after the rough day she’s had.” Bunny explained kindly as her eyes darted over to the pile of bows that she had already created. The bright colors with odd middle pieces made her grin with excitement to show Esme what she had created.

“Oh? And what did you make for my little monster?” Jack asked curiously.

“A bunch of bows to put in her hair. She mentioned this morning that her new friend Nadia has some pretty barrettes that she puts in her hair and I got to thinking maybe I should make some for the girls to wear. I made some for Es and I made some for her friend Nadia if she wanted to share them with her.” Bunny explained excited and Jack chuckled softly over the phone. “I’ll send you a few pictures later on. I’ve got a few more I wanted to make before I had to go get Esme from the bus stop.”

“Oh okay. That sounds great. Thank you Bunny. I was nervous at the beginning of this but you’ve definitely put my mind at ease with leaving Es with you. I can’t thank you enough for helping me out with this.” Jack said emphatically.

“Jack, what did we say about thanking me? No more okay? I don’t mind watching Esme for you, she’s a wonderful little girl and this week has been really great. I really enjoy being around her.” Bunny said sternly, trying to get Jack to finally stop thanking her. “Oh hey, while I got you on the phone my girlfriend Mercy said she has some info on classes for karate and tai chi that aren’t that far from the community. She runs the dog yoga so when Esme and I go this Saturday she’ll be able to give me the info. I’ll give it to you once you get home for you to figure out which class would be best for Esme.”

“Wow, that’s great! Okay thanks I really appreciate you getting information on those classes. I think they’ll be great for Esme. I really liked what you said before, that she might feel more confident with some self defensive classes. I think it’ll really be good for her.” Jack said animatedly and Bunny grinned at how into it Jack was into this idea.

“Yeah I think it’ll be good for her too. She really wants to be able to participate in gym class. And by doing something that she’s able to handle with her asthma I think it’ll make her feel a little more included sort of. Or at least I hope so.” Bunny said easily.

“Yeah I know she does it’s just tricky with her asthma. Alright I gotta get back to work. Thanks again for getting the class info. I appreciate it, I’ll talk to ya later sweetheart.” Jack said quickly and Bunny flushed heatedly at the pet name.

“Okay talk to you later Jack.” Bunny stumbled out softly and quickly hung up the phone. Fanning herself with her hand Bunny tried to calm her racing heart.  _ How could he be affecting her so much over a damn phone call and a pet name?!  _ Bunny took in a few more deep breaths and let them out slowly trying to calm herself. She knew that her emotions and feelings for Jack were brand new and it always felt so good in the beginning but there was so much more to figure out first than to continue developing these feelings for him. Shaking her head she began to push her feelings away and down deeper inside of herself. She had to make sure Esme was okay first and then maybe just  _ maybe _ there could be something for her and Jack.

———

It wasn’t that long after Jack’s phone call that the alarm to go pick up Esme was ringing out into the air. Bunny looked up from her hunched over stance over the counter and set down the finished bow in her hands. She stretched widely letting her arms reach out on either side of her body as she slid off the stool she had been sitting on. 

Bunny guessed she got so involved in finishing up the bows that she lost track of time. Arching her back she heard the pops in her joints and groaned softly. Smiling softly Bunny realized that she had never actually felt this tired in a long time. It was as if her whole body was just exhausted, she had a feeling it was because she was always trying to make the evenings fun for Esme and had been doing quite a bit of moving around. 

“C’mon Butter let’s go get Esme.” Bunny said easily as she ushered the little dog out of the room and down the hallway towards the front door. The two of them quickly get the leash attached and are out the door.

“Bunny!” Called out a voice that made Bunny’s head snap up and turn to the side spotting Mr. Quinten sitting on his front porch waving at her.

“Hey Mr. Q. How are you?” Bunny asked as she led Butter across the front lawn over to the fence dividing her yard from Mr. Quinten’s. “Are you warm enough? It’s a little chilly out.” 

“I’m fine, I promise, stop worrying about me. How’s it going with that little girl you’ve been watching this past week?” Mr. Quinten asked, waving away Bunny’s concern.

“She’s doing ok, had a rough start but now we’re doing good together. Tonight I think we’re going to do some crafts.” Bunny explained easily to Mr. Quinten. “Am I still taking you to the doctor on Monday?”

“Yep still scheduled to go.” Mr. Quinten replied. “That’s good that you guys are getting along. Never know when it comes to you dear.” He teased and Bunny rolled her eyes at the older man as she chuckled softly.

“Sure Mr. Quinten whatever you say.” Bunny grumbled out and Mr. Quinten laughed loudly.

“That’s what I like to hear Bunny!” Mr. Quinten called out as Bunny shook her head and waved at Mr. Quinten before leading Butter back towards the sidewalk to go walk to the bus stop.

Once Bunny and Butter had gotten to the bus stop Bunny had a seat on the curb and Butter quickly walked over and curled in her lap. Bunny ran her fingers through the fur on his back and Butter turned and twisted in her lap until he was laying on his back and presenting his belly to her. Bunny chuckled softly as she began to scratch his belly making him wiggle with delight.

“You’re such a needy little thing. I love you Butter.” She says softly to him as she cuddles him up in her arms and close to her chest. She laughs as he burrows into her chest and huffs loudly. Just then the sound of the brakes on the bus ring through the air and Bunny looks up from her spot on the curb to watch as Esme dejectedly walks down the steps of the bus. 

When the little girl looks up and spots the two of them sitting on the curb and gives a soft grimace. Bunny smiles softly at Esme and holds Butter up to the side of her face hoping to make the little girl smile. It works as Esme lets out a loud giggle at the silly sight of the two of them. Bunny counts it as a win as Esme walks over and takes a seat next to her.

“Are you ok?” Bunny asks softly as Butter squirms in her arms as he tries to move to climb into Esme’s lap who giggles at his antics. The dog seems to vibrate as he wiggles in Esme’s lap and starts to lick her in the face happily. Esme’s giggles emit into the air and Bunny smiles as she sits next to the little girl and wiggling dog.

“I’m okay now.” Esme says quietly and Bunny watches her with concerned eyes. “You were right I didn’t get into trouble with the teacher when I told her about the bullying but the other kids. They weren’t so nice after they heard I told on the bully.” Esme explained, Bunny nodded her head at her words.

“Yeah sometimes people blame the person doing the right thing instead of the person doing the wrong thing. I know it stinks but those kids aren’t the friends you want in the long run. Was Nadia nice to you after you told on the bully?” Bunny tried to explain to her.

“Yeah Nadia thought I did the right thing. She was still nice to me afterwards.” Esme responded.

“Good that’s really good Es. Nadia is a really good friend then. She’s one you should keep around.” Bunny said knowingly. “I hope the two of you stay friends for a very long time.”

“I like her a lot.” Esme said softly and Bunny nodded her head.

“So I’ve got a surprise for you at the house. I was thinking maybe we’ll order some Chinese food and have it delivered while we do some crafts together, how does that sound?” Bunny suggested.

“Ooh what kind of crafts? And what’s the surprise?!” Esme asked excitedly, making Bunny laugh.

“Well any kind of crafts you’d like. We could make friendship bracelets for you and Nadia. We could do anything you really wanted. If I don’t know how to make it I’ll look it up on my computer.” Bunny explained easily to her. “And it wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you what it was now would it?” Bunny teased softly and Esme squealed in her seat.

“I wanna make a friendship bracelet for you and Nadia!” Esme cheered and Bunny felt her heart clench in her chest at the thoughtfulness of Esme.

“That sounds like a plan to me girlie. Let’s get going so we can walk this one and then order some food and get crafting.” Bunny said as she began to stand up. She looked down and watched as Esme let Butter crawl out of her lap and then grabbed the leash. Bunny took the backpack from Esme and the three of them began walking around the block.

———

Bunny laughed as she watched Esme race with Butter up to the front door and then bounce in place as she tried to wait for Bunny to come unlock the front door. Taking a leap up the small three step porch she had Bunny was quickly unlocking the front door and opening it for both Esme and Butter. Esme quickly undid Butter’s leash and hung it up on the hook by the door.

“Alright kiddo the surprise is in the craft room. Let’s get in there and do a bit of crafting to relax and then I’ll order dinner how does that sound?” Bunny asked.

“Sounds good.” Esme cheered as she raced down the hallway and turned into the craft room. Bunny shook her head and walked into the kitchen to serve Butter his dinner for the evening and refresh his water bowl. Hearing the loud squeal from the craftroom Bunny couldn’t help the proud grin that burst across her face. 

The sound of racing steps reached her ears and she looked up from the sink where she stood to see Esme standing in the archway of the kitchen with tears in her eyes and a duo of bows in her hands. Putting the dog bowl full of water on the floor Bunny turned fully to Esme as the little girl rushed forward and wrapped her small arms around Bunny’s waist. Burying her face in Bunny’s stomach Esme sniffled softly and Bunny felt her heart clench tightly in her chest as her hand came to rest against Esme’s soft hair.

“Thank you so much. I love them all.” Esme said around a few more sniffles. Bunny pulled Esme back a little bit and smiled down at her brightly.

“You are very welcome sweetheart.” Bunny said softly and ran her hand over Esme’s hair again. “Now c’mon let’s pick some out for Nadia and then we’ll make some bracelets.” Esme nodded her head and began making her way down the hallway towards the craftroom.

Once inside the room Bunny moved to the containers that held colored lanyard, colored string, beads and other things that they would be able to use to make bracelets. Bunny also pulled out a measuring tape and a few pieces of paper and a pencil, she had another idea to help Esme feel better about things that were going on.

“Alright so which ones would you like to share with Nadia. Or do you not want to share them with Nadia?” Bunny asked as she pulled out two stools next to the counter. The two of them sat on the stools and Esme began to look over all of the bows that she had in her pile. Bunny watched as Esme started to set aside a few of the bows for Nadia as she inspected them all carefully.

“Nadia likes the colors yellow and orange to most. She says she likes them because of sunsets.” Esme explained softly as she moved a brightly orange colored bow into Nadia’s pile.

“Well that’s nice that you’re picking her favorite colors for her. And sunsets are pretty. I get why she likes yellow and orange. What’s your favorite color?” Bunny asked Esme curiously as she watched Esme pick up a teal sparkly bow with a silver octopus figurine in the middle of it.

“I like purple and teal because it reminds me of the ocean.” Esme explained easily as she set the octopus bow in her pile before picking up another one. As Esme continued to go through each bow and decide which pile it would end up in Bunny pulled out her measuring tape and began holding the tape up against Esme’s body in certain places. When she found each measurement she needed she would write it down on one of her pieces of paper. “What’s your favorite color Bunny?” Esme asked softly.

“My favorite is teal, like a light teal. It reminds me of water and it’s really soothing.” Bunny explained and Esme nodded her head at her words.

“How come so kids are really mean and some are really nice?” Esme suddenly asked in a tone that sounded as if she was going to cry and Bunny instantly froze at the question. Feeling her heart shatter in her chest Bunny blinked her eyes for a few moments as she felt tears begin to pool in them.

“You know I don’t know why some kids are mean. It could be a lot of different things. They could have really mean siblings who pick on them at home, or really strict parents who don’t let them do things, or they could just be mean. There’s a lot of reasons why someone could be mean. But none of the reasons have anything to do with you, got that?” Bunny tried to explain to Esme so that she understood. “I don’t know why the kids at school were mean to you. But you’ve got your Dad, Me, and Nadia who care about you and we’ll be here to help you ok?” Bunny said confidently and Esme nodded her head slightly and Bunny slipped off her stool and hugged the little girl tightly. “I promise not everyone is mean and there’s some really good people out there. You just gotta look for them.”

“Ok.” Esme said softly as she hugged Bunny back around the waist. When the two pulled apart Bunny pulled over the materials for the friendship bracelets that the two of them would need to make. Esme smiled as she began knotting and tying off lanyard cords. “You’re the best Bunny.” Esme said quietly as Bunny climbed back onto her stool and pulled over the colored string to begin her own friendship bracelets. When the words reached her ears Bunny whipped her head over to Esme and grinned widely.

“You and your Dad seem to think so.” Bunny said fondly and Esme grinned at her nodding her head.

“Daddy likes you a lot. He thinks you’re really cool and a good role model for me.” Esme said knowingly and Bunny tilted her head to the side as she smiled softly.

“That’s nice to hear.” Bunny said softly and the two of them fell into a companionable silence as they began making bracelets together. Conversation flowing easily between the two as they appraised each other’s work. But Bunny’s eyes kept darting over to her paper with measurements listed on it silently drafting up ways on how she was going to create Esme’s surprise for tomorrow.

———

The next morning Bunny is awake before her alarm and after the morning routine with Butter she is easily rushing into Esme’s room and cheering loudly.

“It’s Friday! Wake up sleepyhead!” Bunny cheered happily as she opened up Esme’s bedroom door. The little girl let out a loud groan as she tried to snuggle deeper into the covers of her bed. Bunny laughed loudly as she moved over to the bed and took a seat on the edge, her hand coming up to rub along Esme’s body under the covers. “C’mon sleepyhead, only one more day of school and then it’s the weekend!” Bunny cheered happily as she patted Esme. “Besides you’ve gotta deliver Nadia’s bows and bracelet to her today.” Bunny teased softly as she stood up and left the room slowly.

“Oh! That’s right!” came Esme’s still sleepy response as Bunny gently shut the door. She chuckled softly as she heard the little girl rushing around the room to get dressed before she moved back down the stairs to let Butter back into the house. Bunny moved into the kitchen and quickly began to make omelets for her and Esme.

“Butter what are we gonna do when Esme goes home this weekend? We’re not gonna have a guest for very much longer.” Bunny said absentmindedly to the dog who was curled up in his bed staring at her silently. He barked loudly when she turned her head to look at him. She smiled at him and nodded her head. “I know we’re gonna miss her right?” Bunny asked fondly of the dog and he barked twice making her laugh. “Yup I’m gonna miss her.”

Just then Esme walks into the kitchen and both Bunny and Butter look over at her. Butter barking happily as he rushed over to Esme and danced around her feet making her giggle happily.

“Good Morning Butter!” cheered Esme as she bent down and pet Butter’s head. Bunny shook her head amused as she watched the dog trot off to his bed once he got the pets he wanted and slumped into the plush dog bed. “Hey Bunny, do you have a bag that I can put Nadia’s bows and bracelets in? I don’t want them to get messed up before I give them to her.” Esme asked as she looked over at Bunny.

“Yeah I think I do, let me see.” Bunny said as she plated up Esme’s omelet and then turned off the stove before moving to the pantry to see if she had any ziploc bags for Esme. “Ah, here we go.” she says producing a medium sized bag and Esme nodded her head eagerly as she took it from Bunny and set it aside. 

“Thanks Bunny.” Esme said easily as Bunny nodded her head and turned back to the stove. “So what’s with the wake up call today?” Esme asks curiously as Bunny begins making her own omelet for breakfast.

“I’ve got things to do today so as soon as I get you up and off to school I can get to the things that I gotta do today.” Bunny said vaguely.

“What things?” Esme asked curiously and Bunny smirks softly.

“Things.” Bunny teases and Esme makes a scrunched up face at her making her laugh.

“Why can’t I know?” Esme asked curiously and Bunny shook her head.

“It’s a surprise.” Bunny said secretively and Esme eyed her shrewdly.

“You like surprises a lot huh?” Esme asked as she tilted her head at Bunny.

“For other people, yes. For myself I hate them.” Bunny answers honestly as she plates her omelet and moves to have a seat at the kitchen island.

“What do you mean for other people?” Esme asks and Bunny smiles at her.

“I like making surprises for other people. But I don’t like receiving surprises.” Bunny explains.

“Even if they’re good surprises?” Esme asks and Bunny nods her head as she begins to shovel her omelet in her mouth.

“Even the good surprises.” Bunny said with finality and Esme tilts her head and then nods. 

“Well that’s good to know.” Esme says easily and Bunny nearly chokes on her food as she’s mid-chew.

“You’re a little sassy this morning aren’t ya?” Bunny griped out amused as she looked over at Esme with a grin.

“You won’t tell me what you’re doing today and just say it’s a surprise. Expect the sass.” Esme said as she huffed. Bunny’s eyes widened at the sass from the little girl before she began laughing delighted.

“Oh man your Dad has his hands full with you doesn’t he?” Bunny asked as she continued to laugh.

“You have no idea.” Esme said as rolled her eyes. Bunny’s laughter filled the room and Esme only responded with happy giggles of her own.

———

“Mr. Quinten, honestly I just asked for cardboard boxes. Do you have any? I don’t need the crochety old man act from you right now.” Bunny said tiredly into her cellphone as she pressed it to her ear. Listening to his response she blew out a long breath. “It’s for Esme. I want to surprise her.” 

Bunny moved about the craft room as she eyed the large pile of cardboard boxes that she had gathered from her stockpile and the neighbors next door. She only needed a few more boxes and had hoped that Mr. Quinten would have them and wouldn’t give her a problem but of course the old man had to give her the whole 20 questions about why she needed the boxes.

She only needed three more boxes to finish up the pirate ship she was planning to make for Esme. This morning after she got Esme on the bus and got through the video call with Jack she had quickly raced home and gathered all the cardboard boxes that she had stored up. She then had asked the neighbors that she knew were home today if they had any boxes that she could have. They all had eagerly given them up to her so that they wouldn’t have to put them out on the curb and they knew that Bunny would find another way to repurpose them.

“I just need three you can keep all the others.” Bunny said exasperatedly. “Yes once I take them they’re mine I won’t be giving them back to you. Goodness, maybe I’ll just ask someone else if this is the trouble I gotta go through to get them.” Bunny complained as she pulled the phone away from her ear glaring at it. “Look can I have the boxes or not? I gotta get going on this if I want to get it done before Esme comes home. And if you’re giving them up I gotta find someone else with boxes that will let me take them.” Bunny explained. “Thank you! Finally, it’s like pulling teeth with you. I’ll be right over to come get them.”

Hanging up the phone Bunny let out a loud sigh as she blew out a breath. Shaking her head, her attitude began to change as she realized that she finally had all the cardboard boxes she would need to be able to create Esme’s pirate ship. She walked out of the craft room when her phone began ringing and she looked down to see that she was getting a call from Jack. Furrowing her eyebrows she quickly answered the call and placed the phone to her ear.

“Hey Jack, is everything ok?” she asked quickly and heard Jack softly curse on the phone.

“Yeah I’m sorry to call you during the work day again. I just-I wanted to make sure you were okay. You weren’t really on the video call this morning and I was worried something was going on that you didn’t want to say in front of Esme.” Jack explained in a soft worried tone. Bunny smiled softly to herself,  _ he was checking up on her. _

“Oh yeah I’m okay. There is something going on that I didn’t want to tell Esme but it’s nothing bad. I’m making her cardboard pirate ship as a surprise and figured we’d do some reenacting of the pirate’s movies after school.” Bunny explained easily as she continued to walk out of the house. 

“Wow.” Jack said softly and Bunny laughed softly. “You can do that?” 

“Don’t underestimate me Jack. I’m the crafting queen.” Bunny said amused. “I’m heading over to Mr. Quinten’s house now to pick up the last of the boxes I need to make the pirate ship. Then I’ve got some sewing to do for Esme’s costume and then by then it should be time for her bus to be coming home.” Bunny explained easily and happily as she bounded down the front steps of her house.

“You’re going all out for this huh?” Jack asked bemused.

“Oh yeah if we’re gonna play pirates you gotta go all out Jack. C’mon.” Bunny scoffed at him.

“You truly are amazing.” Jack says softly almost as if caught off guard by his own words.

“Jack.” Bunny begins to warn him softly.

“No, no hear me out. I don’t know many other women who would go and make a cardboard pirate ship for a little girl who’s had a rough week being away from her Dad. All just to make her feel better. I just want you to know that I really appreciate you doing all this for Es. Ever since Maria passed away I’ve kinda been going at this from the seat of my pants and probably failing spectacularly. But you’ve been such a good thing for her this week and I really do appreciate it.” Jack said earnestly. Bunny stopped in her tracks as she heard the honesty in his voice.

“I gotta admit I’m gonna miss her come next week. It’s kinda insane how easily I’ve gotten used to her in my day to day.” Bunny admitted softly and almost guiltily.

“Well we’ll definitely be seeing you around the neighborhood and if the yoga class goes well or those karate classes work out we could work something out where you and her get to spend some time together. You two can do all that girly stuff that I’m not into.” Jack said kindly and Bunny felt her lungs catch on her next breath. He was trying to keep her in your life even though you were only a neighbor.

“Oh Jack really? I’d love that! But if you wanna take her to karate or tai chi that’s all you, I don’t want to take that from you.” Bunny said quickly even as her heart lifted at being able to spend time with Esme. “Ok, ok let’s not get too emotional now. I still gotta build a pirate ship. I’ll send you pictures and videos once everything is set up and I get her into costume. Ok?” Bunny said quickly as she grinned.

“Alright sweetheart. I expect to see you in full costume too.” Jack said with a happy laugh.

“Duh Jack. Honestly who would I be if I didn’t get in full costume also?” Bunny asked with a scoff before she laughed softly. “I’ll talk to you later Jack.”

“Talk to you later sweetheart.” Jack said in response before the call ended. Bunny is already continuing her path to Mr. Quinten’s house when she stops again and realizes that Jack called her sweetheart twice during that phone call. She feels her face flush heatedly before she shakes her head, this man and his daughter were slipping so easily into her life it was a little daunting.

———

Bunny smiles as she stares at herself in the mirror. She’s decked out in her pirate queen costume. Gray pants cover her legs while knee high tan boots cover her feet. A dark brown leather corset sits on her rib cage and a loose fitting white shirt is underneath that. The look is completed with a long vibrant black and gold coat that falls to her knees, a fake sword is strapped to her waist loosely and a worn tattered pirate hat sits on top of her head. She smiled as she grabbed her phone from the dresser and took a few pictures of her costume. She sends one off to Jack with a catchy pirate themed comment and easily stows her phone in the pocket of the jacket.

Moving out of her bedroom and down the stairs Bunny makes a quick stop in the craft room and opens up the chest full of costumes. She grabs the octopus costume and walks into the kitchen smiling brightly at Butter. The dog looked over at you from his sprawled out position. When his eyes spotted the octopus costume he quickly scrambled up and raced over to you barking loudly. 

“Alright, alright Kraken let’s get you all suited up and then we’ll go get Esme yeah?” Bunny asked as she laughed at the little dog’s response to the costume she held. Butter jumped around Bunny’s feet and she tried to wrestle the costume onto the dog. “Butter hold still bub.” Bunny instructed and the dog listened as he stood still for her and she quickly strapped the velcro straps around his body. “Okay good.”

Standing upright she ushered the dog over to the front door and attached his leash to his collar before the two of them were out the door. As Bunny walked down the sidewalk she grinned and waved at the neighbors who were returning home from work. Some laughed and waved back while others looked at her curiously before shaking their heads. Bunny stopped at the corner and stood there holding Butter’s leash and posed in a very Jack Sparrow-esque pose as she waited for Esme’s bus to arrive.

When the bus did finally arrive at the corner and Esme stood at the top of the bus stairs the squeal she let out could probably be heard two streets away. Her legs couldn’t move quick enough as she bounded down the stairs and ran straight for Bunny.

“Oh my god Bunny! You look amazing!” Esme cheered as she danced and bounced around Bunny. “And look at Butter!”

“Excuse me little miss. I don’t know anyone by the name of Bunny nor Butter. No. My name is Delilah ‘The Siren’ Vail and this ‘ere is the Kraken.” Bunny says in a horrible pirate-esque accent. Esme giggles loudly and bounces on her toes excitedly.

“Are we playing pirates?” Esme asks softly and Bunny grins before nodding her head eagerly to Esme.

“Yeah, we’re playing pirates. Wanna head home? I've got some surprises for ya.” Bunny says easily and Esme nods her head quickly. The two of them usher Butter back towards the house quickly and he barks as they try not to rush him too much.

Once back at the house Bunny unlocks the door and ushers everyone inside. She unleashes Butter and shoos Esme towards the craft room.

“Your costume is in there. Go get changed into it and then we board the ship in the backyard.” Bunny says hurriedly.

“There’s a ship?” Esme asks loudly as she moves down the hallway. The cheer and squeal from the craft room almost deafens both Butter and Bunny. But Bunny can’t keep the grin off her face as she hears the excitement coming from the craft room.

“Es, Butter and I are gonna be outside ok?” Bunny calls as she passes the craft room with her Kraken dog at her heels.

“Ok!” calls back Esme.

———

The ship rocked and swayed on the high seas as waves crested underneath knocking its occupants off their legs continuously. Seagulls cawed and cried above the crew’s heads as the birds circled the tall masts holding the fluttering sails. A storm was brewing in the air and the sea was churning with anticipation of it. Ivy ‘Gunner’ Wendell stood at the helm gazing out over the churning waters. There was something in the air that was making her cautious of their course. Something that she was forgetting.

Suddenly the ship shook as a loud thud was heard from below deck. It felt as if something had crashed into the side of the ship. As Gunner looked around bewildered she spied a dark wood ship in the distance that was flying a black and gold flag from their crow’s nest.

“Mateys, turn the ship around! There be the Golddust in the distance! We need to be sure her captain won’t board us!” Gunner called down to her crew and watched as they all whipped their heads to the side to gaze at the ship that was fast approaching. “Mateys!” Gunner cried out loudly and they all scrambled to do their part to turn the ship away from the Golddust.

Just then another loud thud was heard from below deck and the ship shook with it’s impact. Gunner nearly lost her footing and had to grab onto the helm before she fell over. When she looked back up to see where the Golddust was, she was dismayed to see that it gained at least half of the distance it was before.

“Mateys brace yourselves!” Gunner shouted as she tried in vain to turn the helm as quickly as she could. The helm spun for a moment or two before coming to a dead stop almost throwing Gunner to the floor of the ship. “What is this?!” Gunner cried out as she tried in vain to turn the helm. Her eyes darted up to see that the Golddust had drawn closer and was now turning so it would be parallel with Gunner’s ship. Gunner could see Pirate Queen Delilah ‘The Siren’ Vail gazing at her from her own helm with a smug smirk on her face. But as the Golddust sat parallel with Gunner’s ship the Golddust crew didn’t move to come aboard. It was almost as if they were waiting for something. Something to happen. But what? Just then it made sense to Gunner what those thudding impacts were below deck.

“KRAKEN!” Gunner shouted to her crew and watched as four large ugly purple and teal tentacles surged out of the water on each side of her ship. The tentacles rose higher than the masts of the ship and the horrified crew below cried out in horror. They all tried to scramble away as the large tentacles suddenly crashed down onto the floor of the ship. The wood splintered and Gunner was thrown from her position at the tremor of the ship. Quickly righting herself she drew her sword and began rushing towards the Kraken to defend what was left of her ship. “I will have your tentacle for what you’ve done!” cried Gunner loudly as she surged forwards to try and slice at the tentacles.

Suddenly the tentacles drew away and Gunner looked around bewildered along with her crew. She was ready to defend her crew and ship against the abomination but it had withdrawn. There was a grumble to the side of the ship and Gunner turned her head swiftly to see Pirate Queen Delilah standing on the rail of her ship holding onto some of the rigging with a smug smirk.

“He’ll only come when I call. Might as well give it up Princess.” taunted the Queen. Turning to her Gunner pointed her sword at the woman and sneered angrily.

“Never!” Gunner shouted and the Queen laughed mockingly.

“You would let your ship and crew go down to the depths of the sea all because you won’t join my crew?!” Shouted Queen Delilah. “We would be unstoppable! How can you not see that!?” Queen Delilah cries out as she easily boards Gunner’s ship.

“I will never join you! You’re evil! A black cad!” Gunner shouts as the two women circle each other. The Queen has drawn her sword now and the two are in a standoff.

“Then we fight.” sneers the Queen and she lunges forward striking out with her sword. The clanging of their swords fills the air as the two fight to get the upper hand. The Queen has the advantage of being stronger but Gunner is  quicker as she darts around the Queen. Neither one of them are gaining any leverage until the Queen lets out a loud cry and Gunner’s ship tries to withstand another thudding impact from the Kraker.

“Cheater!” cried Gunner as she’s almost thrown completely off her feet.

“I play to win Princess.” taunts the Queen as she advances. Gunner tries to defend herself but soon the Kraken is laying hit after hit upon her ship and is destroying it. Wood is flying through the air as the tentacles curl around the ship and begin to squeeze.

The Queen gasps and her eyes widen when she realizes that she will be destroyed with the ship if she doesn’t disembark. Spinning quickly she runs to the side of the ship and leaps from the railing to sail through the air and tumble onto the floor of her own ship. Gunner races after her and stops at the railing.

“You would’ve been saved Princess if only you had agreed!” cried out the Queen as she smirked and gave a little wave to Gunner.

“I will avenge my crew and ship!” Gunner cried out before the Kraken’s tentacles completely crushed the ship and Gunner was plunged into the icy waters of the unforgiven seas. Her fate left up to no one but herself. 

“Would she survive or would she perish along with her crew and ship?” Bunny calls out in a contemplating tone and Esme grinned as she sat up from where she lay on the grass right next to the cardboard ship. Butter was racing around the backyard barking happily and Esme giggled loudly at his antics. “Alright kiddo. Should we hold off for another day for part two of the saga of the Pirate Princess and the Pirate Queen?” Bunny asked as she helped Esme to stand. “It’s starting to get darker.”

“Yeah!” Esme cheered and Bunny smiled down at her. “Can we send the pictures and videos to my Dad before we call him?” Esme asked excitedly.

“Sure and dinner should be arriving soon too.” Bunny said as she ushered Esme into the house. “Butter c’mon!” she called over her shoulder to the dog who was still crazily running around the backyard. The two laughed as he dashed from the far fence to the backdoor his tentacles dancing around him.


	12. Finding Love In Legacy Oaks pt. 6.5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saturday with Bunny and Esme!

The sound of soft laughter filtered through the house and Bunny blinked her eyes open instantly alert. Flinging the covers back from her she grabs the baseball bat that she had underneath the bed and rushed out of the room. Moving towards Esme’s door she peeks in and sees that Esme isn’t in bed. Panic fills Bunny as worst case scenarios run through her mind. Rushing down the stairs Bunny can feel the panic and worry trying to consume her. 

Just as she’s about to rush for the front door a loud bark catches her attention and she whirls around to see Esme and Butter sitting on the couch in the living room staring at her with wide eyes. The T.V. is on behind them playing some kids show and Bunny can hear a studio audience laughing in the background.

“You ok Bunny?” Esme asks softly as she stares at Bunny cautiously. Bunny can only imagine what she looks like to the little girl. She had only just rushed out of bed when she heard the voices from the T.V. After yesterday’s pirate play Bunny had passed out in bed as soon as her head had hit the pillow. She had even dozed off during Jack’s last video call last night as she sat next to Esme in her bed last night. Esme had to wake her up since Jack was saying goodnight, Jack and Esme had gotten a laugh outta that last night much to Bunny’s chagrin. 

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Thought someone was in the house that wasn’t us.” Bunny said slightly out of breath and Esme’s eyes darted down to the bat still clutched in her hand.

“That’s why you grabbed a bat?” Esme asked curiously. Bunny nodded her head and walked into the living room and took a seat on the sofa next to the couch Esme was on with Butter.

“To protect us against the would be burglars I thought I heard.” Bunny said as she lazily turned her head to watch the kids show. “What show is this?” Bunny asked idly curious as she watched the bright neon colors flash across the screen. 

“Thea’s Room. It’s about a girl who finds a secret door in her bedroom and it leads to a magical world where she has to fight the monsters there to protect the townsfolk.” Esme explained. Bunny nodded as she watched a young girl run across a field of flowers with a wooden sword in her hand. Sitting there Bunny quickly became engrossed in the T.V. show and the three of them all sat there silently watching.

Soon the distant sound of Bunny’s phone ringtone chimed in the house and Bunny jerked upright from her slumped position on the sofa she had developed. She had become completely enthralled with the show and found herself enjoying it for what it was, pure entertainment. Jumping from the sofa she quickly made her way back up the stairs with the bat still clutched in her hand. When she entered her bedroom she grabbed her phone and quickly pressed the answer button on Jack’s video call. 

She bent over at the waist and put the bat back under the bed as Jack’s happy face came onto the screen. Jack cleared his throat unexpectedly and as Bunny straightened up from her bent over position she looked at him with a furrowed eyebrow.

“You alright there Jack?” she asked curiously and heard him clear his throat once more before his eyes darted up to her own. Bunny suddenly realized what happened, she must’ve given him a clear shot down her sleep shirt when she bent over when the call connected. Feeling a flush spread over her cheeks she quickly shut her eyes and sighed out softly in embarrassment. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. It’s already been an interesting morning. Good morning by the way.” Bunny apologized and explained to Jack as she moved back out of the bedroom and downstairs to the living room.

“Good Mornin’ Bunny!” Jack said brightly and Bunny was thankful that he didn’t mention her slip up. “What do you mean interesting mornin’?” he asked easily. While Jack was talking Bunny plopped down onto the couch next to Esme making the little girl’s body fall into her own and her giggle rang out loudly in the house. “Is that my baby girl?” Jack asked teasingly and Esme huffed before grinning and taking the phone from Bunny.

“Mornin’ Daddy! I’m not a baby anymore.” Esme said petulantly before her grin overtook her face again.

“What?! Of course you are. You’re _my_ baby girl.” Jack tried to reason with Esme and she giggled and shook her head at him.

“Daddy!” Esme whined as she drug out the word.

“Alright, alright you’re not a baby anymore.” he acquiesced and Bunny snorted softly next to Esme. “No comments from the peanut gallery.” Jack warned and Esme turned to Bunny with a confused look as she moved the phone to show Bunny as well. Bunny held her hands up in mock surrender and smirked softly as her eyes darted from the phone to the T.V.

“I didn’t say anything.” Bunny teased and Jack rolled his eyes at her.

“So what happened this morning for it to be called interesting?” Jack asked effortlessly changing the subject. 

“Bunny thought there were burglars when she woke up and came down with a bat!” Esme said quickly in response and Bunny huffed softly as her eyes trailed over to Jack on the phone screen. He was already watching her concerned.

“It wasn’t burglars. It was the T.V. I just woke up and heard voices in the house and panicked a little. That’s all.” Bunny tried to explain away quickly. She didn’t want Jack to feel worried about Esme while she was watching her. Jack nodded his head at her words and then smiled at her and Esme.

“So a baseball bat huh?” Jack asked softly in a teasing voice. Bunny rolled her eyes at him and smiled softly before shaking her head.

“Would you rather I get out my pepper spray around Es? Bat was more accessible.” Bunny explained with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Should we talk about why you have a baseball bat accessible in your bedroom?” Jack asked curiously and Bunny was instantly shaking her head at the question.

“Nope.” she said quickly as she stood from the couch. That was definitely not a conversation that she wanted to have this early in the morning or ever for that matter. “I’m gonna make breakfast. Eggs and hash browns sound good Es?” Bunny asked over her shoulder.

“Yeah that sounds yummy.” Esme answered happily and Bunny nodded her head smiling at the little girl before walking into the kitchen. She began pulling out the eggs from the fridge before bending over to pull out the hash browns and the package of sausage links she found in there. Soon the pans were all sitting on burners on the stove and heating up. Deciding to make eggs over easy Bunny easily began cooking for her and Esme. “Hey Bunny, Daddy said he wanted to say bye to you before he hung up.” Esme said from Bunny’s side holding the phone out to her.

“Sure thing. Hey could you do me a favor and just let Butter out into the backyard please? Once we’re done eating we’ll get dressed and go to dog yoga class.” Bunny asked as she took the phone from Esme. When she looked at the phone screen she could see Jack watching her silently for a moment.

“Is everything alright Bunny?” Jack asked softly. 

“Yeah everything is fine. I was just tired last night and slept hard, woke up in a panic and kinda just went from there. It’s nothing.” Bunny explained truthfully.

“Then why the baseball bat?” Jack asked curiously. Bunny’s eyes darted to look at him for a moment.

“Self defense. Just an added bit of protection. That’s all.” Bunny said, technically it wasn’t a lie but the reason behind the bat was not something she was ready to talk about. Even after three years Bunny wasn’t ready to talk about it, she only wanted to forget it ever happened.

“Okay.” Jack said kindly and Bunny focused on him on the screen. He was smiling at her with a warm kind smile and Bunny nodded her head. “Anyway let me let you go so you guys can go to dog yoga?” he said unsure and Bunny laughed softly at his confusion.

“It's a yoga class just with dogs there. It’s supposed to make it more fun than just regular yoga. Sometimes it kinda devolves into just petting the dogs while you lay in the grass. My friend Mercy runs it.” Bunny said with a grin.

“Oh well I hope the two of you have fun.” Jack said nodding his head.

“Thanks Jack. Talk to you later.” Bunny said easily as she waved at the phone.

“Bye Bunny.” Jack said before hanging up. Bunny set her phone down on the counter next to the stove and sighed softly. Silently standing there Bunny’s mind began to race,  _ would she have to eventually tell Jack? Would it cause him to not want her to watch Esme anymore?  _ Gasping softly Bunny reached out and gripped the counter edge tightly in her hand. She didn’t want that to happen, she wanted to be there for both Jack and Esme. No matter what. She liked having Es around, and Jack obviously came with that. And while their relationship was still new he was a good guy and someone Bunny felt would become a great friend to her. Taking in a deep breath she shook her head,  _ no she would do whatever she had to to keep these two wonderful people in her life. _

*-*-*-*

“My nephew have a horrible peak-a-boo accident.” Bunny said with a knowing grin as she walked along the sidewalk with Esme and Butter. Esme turned to her expectantly and Bunny felt the giddiness take her over. “Now he’s in the ICU.” Esme burst out into peals of laughter as she doubled over at the waist.

“Oh my gosh that was so bad!” Esme cried out happily. Bunny laughed as she watched Esme straighten up and the three of them continued on.

“I couldn’t figure out why that ball in the sky kept getting bigger…” Bunny said with another happy grin. “Then it hit me.” Esme’s giggles rang out as she shook her head. Bunny chuckled along with her as they walked, this was something she could get used to. Which was a nice but scary thought, something that Bunny didn’t want to dwell on just enjoy her time with Es. “I was addicted to the hokey pokey, but it’s ok now.” Bunny said, still chuckling softly. “I turned myself around.”

Esme’s response was almost instantaneous as she again doubled over in laughter at Bunny’s joke. Butter danced around Esme’s feet happily as she laughed loudly. He pressed his little paws to one of her knees and peered up at her with his tongue hanging out. Esme brushed her hand over Butter’s fur and smiled at him as she shook her head.

“Your mom has horrible jokes Butter.” Esme said in secret to Butter and Bunny gasped loudly in mock surprise.

“Excuuuussseee me! I’ll have you know those are some of my best lines. They work every time.” Bunny protested and Esme grinned as she shook her head at her.

“You’re silly.” Esme said fondly as she looked over her shoulder at Bunny.

“Yeah well you enjoy it.” Bunny griped and Esme chuckled softly. “Oh! Oh! Last one I promise!” Bunny said excitedly. The three of them quickly crossed the main street before they began walking through the large field where the yoga was starting to set up. There were quite a lot of women and men setting up their yoga mats. Some had dogs and some didn’t but they were all chatting amongst each other as they got ready for the class to start.

Spotting Jeremy Bunny waved happily and ushered Esme over to where he was set up. Butter tried to break into a run towards Jeremy but Esme was still holding onto his leash. When they came up to Jeremy he smiled brightly at them and bent down to pet Butter.

“Good morning ladies! How are you guys?” Jeremy greeted Bunny and Esme happily.

“We’re good. How are you Jeremy?” Bunny asked kindly.

“Better now that you’re here bright eyes.” Jeremy said fondly and Bunny grinned at him before stepping close and hugging him tightly. “Missed you Bun-Bun.” he said softly into her hair as his head came down to rest atop hers.

“Missed you too.” Bunny replied before stepping away and laying out first Esme’s mat and then her own.

“Bunny, what was the last joke you said you had?” Esme asked with a little uncertainty. Bunny looked up from setting out the mats and saw Esme was eyeing Jeremy a little cautiously as she inched over to the mat on the far side of Jeremy.

“Oh! Yes!” Bunny said happily clapping her hands. But before she could say anything more Jeremy groaned out and rolled his head to look at Esme.

“Is she telling you terrible dad jokes?” he asked knowingly and Esme giggled softly nodding her head at him. “Ugh she always does this and says that they are great jokes. But really, they’re terrible.” Jeremy says teasingly making Bunny squawk angrily at him as Esme laughs loudly.

“They are great jokes! You two just don’t appreciate my talent.” Bunny argued happily making Jeremy roll his eyes at her and shake his head at Esme who giggled again. “Anyway! Why do spies keep working even when they’re asleep?” Bunny said quickly before both Jeremy and Esme looked at her expectantly. “Because they’re undercover.” Bunny said cheerily and Jeremy groaned loudly as Esme giggled shaking her head at Bunny.

“You are forbidden from cracking anymore dad jokes for the rest of this class!” cried Jeremy and Esme laughed brightly as Bunny pouted at him. Jeremy shook his head at her firmly and Bunny sighed before moving to her mat.

“Fine, fine. But it’s not my fault if neither of you can accept my undeniable talent.” Bunny acquiesced. “C’mere Es. Let’s get Butter’s leash staked in the ground so he doesn’t run away while we’re doing yoga.” Bunny slid the backpack she had on her back down to the ground and pulled out a corkscrew stake and began to put it into the ground in between her and Esme’s mat.

“How come Butter has to have his leash staked but the other dogs don’t?” Esme asked curiously as she tilted her head to the side. Jeremy burst out laughing at her question as he sat on his mat stretching his muscles out.

“Good question! Why don’t you answer that Bun-Bun?” Jeremy asked grinning knowingly at Bunny.

“Because Butter doesn’t know how to stay yet. We’re still working on it.” Bunny said morosely as she looked up at Esme. “Here hold Butter so that I can loop his leash around the stake.” Bunny instructed Esme who did as she told. Bunny quickly secured Butter’s leash to the stake and then hooked Butter back up to it. “So I’ve got your inhaler just in case. But this class we go slow. Yoga isn’t high energy. The instructor is right over there and we follow whatever position she goes into. Jeremy and I are right here if you need help. I’m right next to you so don’t worry about anything ok?” Bunny said softly to Esme. Esme eagerly nodded up at her and then wrapped her arms around Bunny’s waist in a tight hug.

“Thank you so much Bunny.” Esme said happily and Bunny pet Esme’s hair.

“No problem kiddo. Let’s stretch before the class. If I pull anything I’m down for the count.” Bunny said tiredly as she yawned.

“Why are you so tired?” Jeremy asked as he continued his own stretching on his mat.

“We played pirate princess and pirate queen before bed last night.” Bunny said and Esme looked at her quickly with a look of worry on her face.

“And I wasn’t invited?!” Jeremy asked incredulously and Bunny watched as Esme seemed to instantly relax at Jeremy's excitement over their play. “Do you have videos and photos?” 

“Yes but after the class I’ll show you. Mercy’s here.” Bunny said smiling widely at a tall woman standing in front of the group of people waiting for the class to start.

*-*-*-*

“Alright my loves, sit nice and tall. Let your breathing slow and just focus on taking in a breath and slowly letting it out.” Mercy said calmly in a loud enough voice for everyone to hear. Bunny smiled as she watched Es sit next to her on her mat. Butter was laying on the grass in between the two of them. “Now slowly lay on your back with your knees bent. Continue to breathe slowly. Just focus on breathing in and breathing out.”

Butter rolled onto his side and began to press his paws into Bunny’s hip making her snort softly. Esme turned her head and giggled softly as she watched Butter try to get Bunny’s attention. Bunny tried to brush Butter away but the dog just tried to curl further under Bunny’s hand making Esme giggle again.

“Alright now pull one knee into your chest holding it there while you extend your other leg outward.” Mercy instructed firmly in a calm voice. Bunny watched as Esme looked at her to see what she did so Bunny slowly moved into the position that Mercy wanted her in. Esme slowly followed what Bunny was doing. “Hold your knee there for a few breaths. Keep breathing in and out slowly.”

Bunny turned her head to watch Esme and saw that the little girl was smiling as she held her knee to her chest. Butter huffed softly at the two of them and crawled his way up to Bunny’s chest and thumped his head into her breast bone making her groan softly at him. Esme giggled again as she opened her eyes to see what Butter was doing.

“Ok, now extend your bent knee to the sky keeping your foot flat.” Mercy called out softly. “You can hold it down by your thigh or by your foot whichever is more comfortable for you.” Bunny watched as Esme slowly followed the instructions and she smiled before nodding her head. “Hold that for a few more moments.”

“Ugh! Bandit! Seriously?! You just farted in my face!” Cried someone else farther back in the group. Esme burst into happy giggles at the outcry and Bunny snorted next to her.

*-*-*-*

The sun was now a quarter of the way to midday and the dog yoga class was slowly coming to a close. Bunny laid there on her mat and listened to Esme whisper to Butter. Praising him for helping her get through the class.

“Thanks a lot Butter. You did really good.” Esme whispered softly to the dog and Bunny watched as Butter snuggled into Esme’s arms as they both laid next to each other. Bunny felt her heart melting at the sweet picture that the two of them made. Suddenly a wide yawn pulled her mouth apart and she groaned softly as her hand came up to cover her mouth.

“What do you say to a lazy day Es?” Bunny asked softly as she shut her eyes softly and lay on her mat feeling the tiredness start to consume her.

“Still sleepy?” Esme asked softly and Bunny nodded her head. The sun was shining brightly down from the sky and while it was still chilly since it was only the end of January it was warm enough for them to stay out in the field for a little bit in their long sleeved shirts and work out pants. Stretching high up above her head Bunny lazily stretched out her whole body feeling the sun heat her skin.

“Wanna go hang out in the field over by the soccer field?” Bunny asked warmly and dazedly. “We can call your Dad and tell him how dog yoga went.” Bunny suggested as she turned her head completely to look at Esme. The little girl was sitting up now with Butter curled up in her lap as she pet him softly. 

“Yeah that sounds like fun.” Esme said nodding her head. Bunny nodded and slowly rolled onto her stomach and pushed up onto her knees groaning softly.

“Jeremy I’m getting old.” Bunny groused out softly and Jeremy laughed brightly as he turned his head and grinned widely at her.

“Then what am I ancient?” Jeremy teased softly making Bunny swat her hand at him landing soundly on his stomach.

“You’re only two years older than me idiot.” Bunny teased back and Esme giggled softly as she watched the two of them interact.

“You two would make good parents. You’re just silly enough together to be cool.” Esme said suddenly as she watched them and the two adults turned to look at her shocked.

“Oh my god Jeremy! Did you hear that?? She said I’m cool!” Bunny gushed happily as she shook her hand at Jeremy as he still laid on the ground on his back. Esme giggled and rolled her eyes at Bunny’s reaction.

“You just created a monster.” Jeremy warned Esme and Bunny suddenly jumped up to her feet.

“I’m cool! I feel like I just got the seal of approval.” Bunny said happily and Esme rolled her eyes again.

“I take it back!” she cried out and Bunny whirled around to her pointing with her index finger.

“No take backs!” Bunny cried loudly and a few stragglers from the class looked over at the small quartet with looks of amusement. “I’m cool, imagine that Jer.” Bunny mused happily and Jeremy laughed, shaking his head. “C’mon kiddo let me roll up your mat and we’ll go be cool in the field.” Bunny said with self importance and Esme and Jeremy laughed at the proud look on her face.

“Good luck with her Esme. She won’t stop now.” Jeremy said as he waved lazily from his spot on the ground to the two girls as they began to pack up their things. Bunny handed a water bottle to Esme and turned to wave at Mercy who was standing not far from them talking to other people from the class. Mercy waved back at her and mimicked calling her, making Bunny smile and nod her head.

“Alright kiddo let’s get outta her. Later Jeremy! Let me know when you wanna hang out next ok?” Bunny called out over shoulder to Jeremy who just nodded and rolled his head to the side and shut his eyes.

“How come you and Jeremy aren’t dating? You two are really good friends and are so funny together.” Esme asked curiously as she held Butter’s leash in her hands and walked next to Bunny. Bunny smiled and looked over at Esme.

“Jeremy doesn’t like women in that way. But we are best friends, he was the first person I met when I moved her. He helped me get through a lot of stuff.” Bunny answered easily as they continued to walk along the sidewalk.

“Oh like my English teacher, Mrs. Marshall? She has a wife.” Esme asked as she explained about her English teacher.

“Yup like your English teacher.” Bunny said, nodding her head. The three of them continued walking down the sidewalk before they came across the small little field of wildflowers next to the soccer field. Bunny grinned as Butter began pulling Esme into the field barking happily. The two of them moved through the slightly taller grass and wildflowers until Butter completely disappeared when he found a good spot to flop down on his side. Laughing softly Bunny watched as Esme sat in the grass and flowers petting Butter as she looked up at the sky closing her eyes letting the sun cascade over her face. Bunny pulled out her phone and snapped a picture before sending it off to Jack quickly with a request to video call.

Moving over to Esme and Butter Bunny began to pluck some wildflowers from around the two of them until she had a good pile of them. Sitting down behind Esme she handed her the cellphone silently.

“Your Dad’s gonna video call you in a bit I think. You want me to braid your hair and weave some flowers into it?” Bunny asked fondly as she set down the backpack behind her. The sun was making her lazy as it warmed her body.

“You can do that?” Esme asked softly as she turned to look over her shoulder at Bunny excitedly.

“Yeah of course.” Bunny responded as turned Esme’s head back around to face forward and pulled out the hair tie she had used earlier to tie her hair in a ponytail. “And maybe we can play twenty questions to pass the time?” Bunny asked softly.

“Okay. I’ll go first!” Esme said eagerly as shifted in her spot on the ground. “What’s your favorite ice cream?” she asked softly letting her head fall back as Bunny began running her hands through it.

“Oooohhh good one. Hmm, Chocolate chip cookie dough. What about you?” Bunny responded easily as she began pulling and braiding Esme’s hair away from her face.

“Mint chocolate chip.” Esme answered happily with a smile. 

“Okay, what’s your favorite season and why?” Bunny asked as she effortlessly finished the braid and began picking out the prettiest wildflowers from her pile to weave into Esme’s braid.

“Summer, cause there’s no school and Daddy takes a vacation. We go somewhere cool together.” Esme responded.

"Okay I got a really serious one now. Batman or Superman?" Bunny asked seriously for a second before Esme burst into a fit of giggles. Bunny grinned over at the giggling girl in triumph.

"Superman." Esme said after she had calmed down and Bunny sadly shook her head.

"What seriously?!" Bunny asked incredulously.

"Why? Do you like Batman more?" Es asked amused as she grinned over at Bunny.

"Oh we're beefing now." Bunny grumbled out and Esme burst out laughing again. 

Just then the cellphone began ringing and Esme quickly answered the video call cheering loudly and happily as Jack came onto the screen. Leaning back on her hands Bunny smiled as she watched Butter crawl into Esme’s lap as she laughed over something Jack said on the phone and felt herself falling into the almost fantasy of always spending her Saturdays like this.


End file.
